Run With Me - Remus Lupin
by ampoke
Summary: The Black Family Outcasts, decedents of blood purists and constant Slytherins, Cassie and Sirius are making their own way through Hogwarts. First installment in the Me, Myself, and I trilogy. (Can be read in any order/or by themselves.)
1. The Black Family Outcasts

"Black, Cassiopeia."

As I made my way to the front of the hall, I had to look both of my brothers in the face. I had to sit on a stool and make eye contact with the boy that had been there since womb and the one that had practically walked me through life.

I was split between two houses, trying to decide which one I hated the thought of less. Part of me wanted to forget them both and beg my way to Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff. As Professor McGonagall set that hat on my head, blocking out the interrogating gazes of my brothers, I cleared my head. I wanted to be sorted into the house that I truly deserved, not the one that I asked for because I couldn't see any other destination.

"Another Black. Interesting...," the hat sneered into my head. "I suppose you'd want to be in Slytherin, where your entire family has been. Unless… you're like the other one. A Gryffindor, ay?. But your brain's big enough for Ravenclaw and your strong will is enough for Hufflepuff. But I can see that your heart is saying Gryffindor, so I suppose I'll have to say,"

The hat's stopped speaking for a second or less before shouting out for the whole hall to hear, "Gryffindor!"

I felt my stomach twist as light filled my eyes and Regulus' cold gaze froze my heart to stone. I stepped past him on my way to the Gryffindor table, but he refused to make eye contact with me. I was no longer a member of my own family.

As I looked down the Gryffindor table for Sirius, the wind was taken out of my lungs as I was hit with the force of a human. Sirius wrapped his arms around me, "I cannot believe you, Cassie. I cannot believe you."

"Get off of me, you knob!" I gasped, trying to remove his arms from my body. "Off Sirius! Off!"

"I'm not a dog!" he whined.

I scoffed, "Well, there isn't much of a difference."

"Black, Regulus!" Professor McGonagall called out.

Sirius and I turned towards the front of the hall to see Regulus sitting on the stool with force, his arms crossed. He'd never looked so angry. I could see that in that moment, I was losing my twin to wrath of house division and cold blood.

"Slytherin!" the hat called within a second.

Regulus stared Sirius and I down as he marched towards the table of silver and green.

Sirius held my arm, pulling me down the table to where him and his friends were sat. I recognized them all from pictures hanging in Sirius' room.

"Cassie Black, everyone. Everyone, Cassie. Welcome her, enjoy her presents even when she makes you want to shove a spoon into your eyes, and most importantly, respect my baby sister, no matter how much it pains you."

I pressed a hand to my heart in mock appreciation, "You're so sweet."

A boy with destroyed black hair and glasses reached a hand across the table, "James Potter, pleasures all mine."

I grinned at him, shaking his hand, "I've heard a lot about you, James."

He looked towards the girl three places down with fiery red hair, "See, Lily, I can be a gentleman… if I try hard enough."

I nodded, looking back at Sirius, "Yup, I've heard a lot about you."

The boy on the opposite side of me smiled, "Remus, uh. Lupin. Remus Lupin." His burned red as he stumbled through his words, "Chocolate?" He held out a block of chocolate wrapped in silver paper.

"Lupin's a little… awkward," Sirius chuckled.

"Peter's worse though. Isn't that right Pete?" James slapped the short, warty kid on the back.

The warty kid forced a half smile, "I'm Peter Pettigrew, welcome to Gryffindor…" his attention flickered to the sorting ceremony, seeking to find how many kids were left to be sorted. "Is the feast starting soon?"

James cleaned his glasses on his robe, shaking his head, "Last two people, Peter."

As the last two first years were sorted into Slytherin and Hufflepuff, Professor Dumbledore stood in front of us, "A new year, brings new food. Eat!"

And with that the feast began.

"He's always strange like that?"

Sirius grinned, "Always."

"Did you hear about Slughorn's new lesson plans? It's exactly the same thing was did last year."

"From what I've heard your year almost burnt down the castle with a Calming Draft, so can you really be surprised," I added.

Remus sighed, "Peter and I were the only successful draft last term. And Peter slept in that class… and every class."

"I've been studying fifth year Potions and Transfiguration over the summer. Only up to third year with Defense Against the Dark Arts and Charms though."

"Only up to third year," Sirius scoffed, stuffing a roll into his mouth and continuing to mock me through the bread.

James grinned at me, "Let me guess, you've already practically finished Astronomy and Herbology? Taken flying lessons, started Arithmancy, mastered the art of taming unicorns, and talk to all the dead people that you learned to channel in your time studying Divination."

"Herbology is a waste of my time, I've been flying since I was three, Arithmancy is something that can be learned in Muggle books if you read between the lines, Divination is a scam, and taming unicorns is practically impossible. They're one of the more gentle creatures on the Earth, there's no need to tame them."

"Guess we've got two walking textbooks now," James looked at Remus.

Remus rolled his eyes, "Glad I'm no longer the only one with a brain. I'll be forever in your debt, Ms. Black. But, just so you're aware, Arithmancy is a practice-"

"Of Divination? Yes, it's used to accurately predict the future. It's based on facts while the actual practice of Divination is based around fantasy. It's predicting the future by pulling it out of thin air. I don't believe in delusional guessing. I believe in facts."

"It's funny, my mom used to say something similar about magic," Remus retorted. He turned back to his food and the conversation was over.

I made small talk with the boys as the feast continued. James began bothering Lily Evans and I was informed that he did that a lot. Although I felt quite bad for Lily as she obviously didn't have an ounce of compassion for James or his antics, it was sweet that he cared so much for her.

Sirius gave me a lopsided grin, "Told you they were great."

"Anyone that spends more than a day with you and doesn't stab themselves in the eye with their wands is most likely brain dead, so I can't make any positive assumptions about any of them yet."

My brother raised an eyebrow, "Even though your brain can't comprehend friendship, I know you must remember me saying that you'd be a Gryffindor."

I grimaced, "I don't remember anything."

"A galleon a paper."

"No."

"Please?"

I latched my hand onto the back of his hair and pulled him backwards, "I'm not doing your work for you."

"I won the bet!"

"There was no bet!"

He gaped at me, "Don't you- I said you'd be a Gryffindor and I was right. A galleon a paper, Black."

"There was no bet! I would never agree to letting you cheat your way to school. You're smarter than you let on."

Sirius covered my mouth with his hand, "No! No, I am not. I need help, Cassie. All of my professors hate me because I don't apply myself and I need you to be the one to change their minds."

"Sirius," I whined.

"Cassie," he mimicked.

I took a moment, calculating my options, "Two papers a week, three galleons a paper."

His jaw dropped, "That's so unfair. We agreed on one galleon for every paper."

"Two galleons, and half of the papers you get in a week or the deals off."

Sirius smiled, holding his hand out for me to shake, "You got yourself a deal, Ms. Black."

Remus looked over me, "Can I get in on the other half of those?"

"Am I contributing to your book fund?"

"Any money I get is contributing to my book fund."

Sirius sighed, "Fine, whatever. Cassie gets Monday, Tuesday, and half of Wednesday. Remus gets the other half of Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. You each get two galleons a paper. I can't believe that I just sold all of my work for the entire year."

Remus and I smirked at each other, a competition already brewing between us.

"Damn Sirius, you must have gotten the short end of the stick when it came to brains in your family," James teased.

"He got the short of the stick when it comes to everything in our family. I got the brains, the personality, and the looks."

Sirius scoffed, "The looks. That's rich. Have you seen me? I'm the definition of a male sex symbol."

"You've got the body of a prepubescent girl. I have better abs that you do."

James and Remus burst into laughter, pointing to the dumbfounded expression on Sirius' face. He shoved me into Remus, "I disown you."

I pushed him back, "You can't disown me!"

This was going to be a year ending in many detentions shared with my stupid older brother.

I had never been so excited.


	2. The Jar of Silver Potion

I stepped into the Gryffindor common room the next morning to see my brother and his friends jumping on the scarlet furniture.

Lily came down the stairs after me and looked at the boys in complete and utter joy.

"I want to hug whoever did that to them," she said, grinning from ear to ear.

"I'd let you hug me, but touching people has never been my thing," I said, smiling.

We stood there together, surrounded by the rest of the Gryffindor house who were slowly pouring out of the dorms. The boys who were still jumping as high as they could to reach their shoes that were dangling from the ceiling.

"You must be Cassie. Sirius talks about you a lot," said Lily, keeping her eyes on the boys.

"All exciting things, I'd hope."

She nodded, "Definitely exciting things."

Both of us laughed as my brother fell off the sofa and groaned in frustration.

"You two look awfully similar, you know?"

"I've been told," I said, nodding.

Regulus and I were twins, yet he seemed to take after our mother in looks with brown eyes and hair that was far more manageable than Sirius or I's. Sirius and I were far more like our father in looks. Calm grey eyes and taller, slimmer stature.

Aside from taking the looks of our parents, Sirius and I shared one thing that no one in the Black house had. An actual likeable personality and morals.

Sirius finally grabbed one of his shoes from the ceiling and there was a cheer as he hit the floor holding the single shoe up in victory.

I made an effort not to look at Peter. It was kind of embarrassing to watch him. He did kind of look like a beached whale trying to flop back into the water. James and Remus, on the other hand, had been lucky enough to reach at least one pair of their own shoes.

It was sad, really. A school full of magic and none of them had thought to try a single spell.

I pointed my wand at the ceiling, "Relashio."

All the shoes came falling to the floor, hitting the heads of innocent bystanders and Peter, who yelped and flopped onto the floor.

"We could have gotten them," James told me, looking upset that he'd been defeated by someone younger than him.

I rolled my eyes, "Obviously."

Sirius wrapped an arm around my shoulders, "My baby sister hasn't been to a single class and can already get a bunch of shoes off the ceiling for me."

"I guess it's the least I could do, considering I put them up there."

He hugged me, and I flailed around begging him to leg go.

"She really is my sister," he cried in happiness.

I pushed him off me, "You don't need to announce that to everyone."

With all four of the boys finally wearing shoes, Lily and I followed them down to the Great Hall for breakfast.

I ate a yogurt parfait while Sirius continued to try and shove bacon or sausage patties into my mouth.

"Sirius!" I yelped as he threw bacon at me again.

James leaned across the table, "So Sirius, I was thinking, what if we get jinx Sniveles' cauldron during potions? So it constantly overflows or lights on fire or something?"

"James, I like where your head's at," said Sirius, a sinister grin on his face.

I banged my head on the table, "You're going to get yourself expelled, Sirius!"

"Don't act so excited to see me leave, Cassie."

"James, I really don't like it when you bully Severus," said Lily sadly.

"But Lily, listen," said James, turning towards her. "It's so easy to pick on him! He deserves it too! You hear what he says about Muggle borns."

"I certainly do not!" she huffed, turning away from him to talk to another second year girl.

"Black and Black," Professor McGonagall handed both of us our timetables. "Evans, Lupin, Pettigrew, and Potter."

"Potions with the Slytherins, Defense Against the Dark Arts with Slytherin, Transfiguration with Hufflepuff, flying lessons with Ravenclaw," I read aloud.

"We've got a break during that period. Why don't we come and watch you fly?" said Sirius, nudging me.

"I'd really rather you didn't," I said. "Last time you watched me fly you threw a rock at me and broke my nose."

Sirius went red and looked back down to his schedule.

"You know that they're having tryouts for a new Seeker and Chaser this year, right?" said Remus, still reading his schedule with a calendar pulled up next to it.

"That's an idea!" James clapped his hands together. "What do you say, Black?"

"No thanks," muttered Sirius, a spoon dangling out of his mouth.

"I meant other Black," James corrected.

I raised an eyebrow at him, "Me?"

"Yeah! I'm planning on trying out for Seeker. Why don't you go for Chaser?"

Sirius perked up, "Yes! Do it! Please?"

"Why should I?"

"Because Regulus is trying out for Seeker on the Slytherin team," Remus told me, scribbling something onto his schedule.

I nodded hesitantly, "I suppose I'll try out, then."

Remus threw his bag over his shoulder, "Good then. Well, if you're going to Potions now, I'll walk you. I need to have a word with Slughorn."

As Remus and I walked away, I looked down to the schedule in his hand. It was covered in sketches and abbreviated words.

"Why'd you write all over your schedule?" I asked.

He seemed caught off guard. Remus looked down to the piece of parchment.

"Oh… It keeps me on track. Visualizing it helps I guess."

We walked down the stairs and into the dungeon. I took seats in the back of the room, while Remus went to the desk in the front where a potbelly man was standing. "Ah! Mr. Lupin! I'm so glad to see you. I must say, I expected you to come for it in a few more days… but while you're here."

He pulled out a mason jar of a silvery liquid, "I believe you know how much to take."

Remus nodded, "Thank you, Professor."

"Mr. Lupin, if you don't mind me asking. Why come now instead of getting it during your hour?"

Remus seemed nervous, glancing around the room of first years who weren't paying any attention to him. He swallowed when he came to the conclusion that no one there cared what he was doing.

"My friends are quite nosey. Wouldn't leave me alone if they saw you give me this."

Slughorn laughed and patted Remus' shoulder. As Remus left the classroom, the potion in hand, he smiled at me, "Good luck on your first day, Cassie."

"Thank you," I said, smiling back.

The second he was out of the classroom, I started rummaging through my bag.

"What is that?" asked a dark skinned boy sitting in front of me. His face was contorted in obvious confusion as I stuck my entire arm into the small bag.

"Undetectable extension charm," I explained, pointing my wand into the black rucksack, "Accio, potion book." Five book shot out of the bag and landed on my desk.

"Do you have the entire library in there?" the boy asked me.

"Inheriting a home library from my cousin when she died might have come in handy," I muttered.

I began flipping through the pages of the books stacked high on the desk next to me. I pulled some parchment out and began scribbling notes down. No one sat next to me, which I was grateful for.

I read over the list almost five times,

Invigoration Draught

Swelling Solution

Draught of Peace

Dreamless Sleep

"Ah, Ms. Black is already studying and we haven't even started the new school year yet, how impressive," called Professor Slughorn from the front of the classroom. "Ten points to Gryffindor for sheer readiness to learn," I blushed and looked back at my parchment.

Regulus was glaring at me from his table of Slytherins.

"Today I want to start out with something simple and fun just to give you a little taste of what my class is going to be like. The Pepperup Potion. Who can tell me what the Pepperup Potion does?"

No one seemed to know the answer.

Slowly, avoiding Regulus' gaze, I raised my hand, "Yes! Ms. Black?"

"It cures simple illnesses, like a cold. It does cause the patient's ears to admit a bit of steam for several hours after taking it, though."

Professor Slughorn clapped his hands together, "Another ten points to Gryffindor."

The dark skinned boy in front of me turned around, "I think the library you inherited was a little more than handy."

I smiled a little.

The next half hour went by quickly, but I quite enjoyed every second of the potion making process. It was a delicate process, and I couldn't help but find every step intriguing.

Halfway done my potion was clear and emitting black steam, just like the instructions said it would be. The boy in front of me, on the other hand, was backing away from his potion. It was a sickly green green color and boiling bubbles were exploding everywhere.

I stepped around my best and looked at his work space. I sighed, slicing a Mandrake root into small pieces.

"You're not supposed to put the entire root in at one time! It should go in little bits every few times your stir it! Honestly, I don't think Potions is going to be your best class," I told him.

"I can't imagine why you'd say such a thing," he retorted.

By the end of class very few people had the perfect orange potion they were meant to have.

"Both of the Black twins have done wonderful jobs, ten points to both houses."

Regulus glared at me. Despite the fact that it made me physically sick to see him seem to hate me so much because of my house, I smiled at him.

"Good job."

He looked away from me and started telling another Gryffindor girl that her potion looked like it was more likely to send you to the hospital rather than cure a cold.

After class had ended, Professor Slughorn asked for Regulus and I to stay behind.

"You two are obviously very gifted in the magical arts. I'd like you both to come to something I like to call, a Slug Club Dinner Party."

I glanced at Regulus before saying, "I'd love to."

"I'll go," Regulus agreed.

The Slughorn clapped his hands together, "Oh how wonderful! I'll see you both Saturday night at dinner time."

Regulus didn't say anything else before striding out of the classroom, meeting up with his newfound friends.

"Thank you, professor," I said, smiling. I started to walk away but stopped short. "Actually, I have a question."

Slughorn looked up from his lesson plan, "Yes?"

"What did you give Remus before class started?"

He flushed, torn between whether or not he could tell me. His eyes twitched nervously around his desk, and he stammered when he tried to answer.

"I mean, I'm only asking because I know that Remus is incredibly intelligent. I wanted to know what potion could be so difficult. I really enjoy challenging myself, you see."

Professor Slughorn lit up. He laughed so hard his potbelly shook.

"Well Miss. Black. As much as I love how eager you are, that is between Mr. Lupin and I. You can ask him if you feel inclined to, but I'm afraid I can't tell you. Now, you better head to your next class. Don't want to be late on your first day, do you?"

I nodded, walking away from his desk. I looked down at my hand when I was out of his view.

On a small piece of parchment, in messy writing it said;

Draught of Peace for R.L.

Powdered Moonstone

Syrup of Hellebore

Powdered Unicorn Horn

Powdered Porcupine Quill

Essence of -

I didn't have time to finish reading. Someone had walked past me, knocking me in the shoulder. I stumbled into the person on the other side of me.

"Watch where you're going, Black," spat a boy with long greasy hair and a large nose.

"Oh, sorry Severus," I muttered.

Sirius had told me all about him. Well, in very nasty and rude words anyways. Him and his friends hated Serverus Snape with everything in them. Why that was, was unclear. All I knew was that it drove James mad that Lily Evans was friends with him.

I looked down at my watch. I only had two minutes to find the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. I scanned around for anyone in my year, but I seemed to be alone in the corridor.

"Dammit," I muttered to myself.

"Lost?"

I jumped, turning around. Professor Dumbledore was standing directly behind me, looking at me down his pointed nose.

"Oh, uh, yes. I don't know where the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom is."

"Well, I was just heading that way, why don't we walk together?" he suggested, smiling gently at me.

I nodded, nervously and we set off up the stairs together.

"So, Miss. Black. How are you and Regulus getting along since you've been split apart? I suppose it's the first time you've really been apart?"

"Well, he's very angry at me right now. I'd like to say I think it's going to pass, but he's still angry that Sirius got put in Gryffindor. So are our parents. He has the same mindset as them. He looks up to our parents and I guess I look up to Sirius more than anything… Sorry, Professor. I guess I'm rambling."

"Don't be sorry. Sometimes we need to reveal our inner thoughts. Even though it may not be to a familiar face, it still helps. As for your brothers, I think it's wise of you and Sirius to hold a more open mind than your family. Not that their values or opinions are incorrect, mind you. It's more that, sometimes straying from an already created path can be more valuable to us in the long run, even if we feel lost during the journey."

I thought about his words for a moment before he stopped walking, and I followed suit.

"Speaking of journeys, I see that this one has ended. Here we are. Welcome to Defense Against the Dark Arts with Professor Carther. I hope to see you soon, Miss. Black. In the meantime, it does not do to fret on the minds of others."

I entered the class and sat in the back of the room. I was now way more confused than I had been not two minutes earlier. Sirius wasn't kidding. Professor Dumbledore, though incredibly smart, was also a bit strange.


	3. The Lady of the Chair

It didn't make sense to me. All of the ingredients that Slughorn had written down for Remus' peace draught were way more than the amount listed in every potions book I found. And in every potions book I read it said that even a little more of any ingredient could put the person taking the potion into a deep, sometimes deadly, sleep.

How could a professor be giving a student a potion that could potentially kill them?

It even seemed as though Remus had been getting this potion from Slughorn before as well. How many times had he taken it?

After an uneventful flying lesson, I'd gone down to the library. I'd had the thought that maybe my books were a bit outdated, though unlikely, I'd checked out a few more books from the library to see if the potion had any known variations.

I wandered up the stairs, finding nothing more than what I already know in the new book.

Someone tutted at me from the hallways as I passed. I looked up at the tall boy leaning against the wall. There was no one around us, and I realized that I must have gone up the wrong staircase on the way to the common room.

"Cooper," I whispered, suddenly nervous.

"Hey, Cass," he said.

"Don't call me that-"

"Don't call you that?" he yelled, interrupting me. "Why? Is it because… because of Emily?"

"You know that it is," I whispered, trying my best not to shrink away.

He was suddenly standing in front of me, blocking me from going back down the stairs.

Cooper was a heavy set attractive, fifth year Ravenclaw. His shaggy brown hair and typically kind green eyes would lead to assume him harmless. But right then, he was shaking in anger. His eyes were dark… raging with too many emotions for a normal person to process at one time. His jaw clenched, and I could see the vein on the side of his head bulging.

He cast a malicious grin at me, and knocked the book out of my already shaking hand, getting a few inches closer to me. I backed up as far as I could, but my back was already against the wall.

"You don't have the right to be touchy about my little sister."

"She was my friend," I said, searching for anything to look at beside him.

I didn't get scared easily. I was the kind of person that would wrestle someone three times my size if someone put a galleon on it. I'd been in too many dangerous situations to count, yet, standing cornered, by Cooper Knight made me shake with terror.

"Friends don't kill each other, Cass," he growled, slapping the wall behind my head.

I jumped and screwed my eyes shut. I couldn't look at him anymore. I was far too aware of what he was capable of.

"I- I- I didn't kill her! I tried to save her. I did everything I could!"

"Well," said Cooper. "Apparently, that wasn't good enough!"

"Is there a problem here?"

Cooper jumped away from me and I opened my eyes to look at him. His eyes were shifting between Professor McGonagall and I, shifting from anger to fear.

There was some humor to be found in the fact that he, a six foot tall fifth year, been caught harassing a first year girl. Still, the situation didn't seem very humorous to me. In fact, it took everything in me not to collapse onto the floor or projectile vomit onto Cooper from pure anxiety.

"No, Professor," said Cooper, forcing a scary smile and bending down to pick up my book. "Just helping her pick her books up."

I couldn't meet Professor McGonagall's eyes, too afraid of what Cooper would do if I said anything about what was really happening.

"Are you okay, Miss. Black?" asked McGonagall.

I bit back an emotional outburst and muttered something that must have sounded like 'I'm fine', because Professor McGonagall nodded.

"Well Mr. Knight, may I suggest getting back to your dorm? No reason to be wandering the halls with no destination in mind."

Cooper glanced back at me and shoved the book into my hands before stomping down the stairs.

McGonagall put her hand on my shoulder, "You're sure you're alright, Miss. Black? I'm aware of what happened to Emily Knight…"

I shook her off, "I'm fine. He- he was helping me pick up my books."

It was obvious that she didn't believe me, I wouldn't have believed me either. But there wasn't much anyone could do in that situation. I could see that she was thinking about whether or not to let me go, but in the end she decided against keeping me for longer than necessary, especially since I definitely did not want to be there.

I wasn't really sure where I was going when finally out of McGonagall's view.. I wasn't even sure that I was on the same floor as the common room. What I did know though, was that I didn't feel like going back down the stairs to get my bearings, on the off chance that Cooper had decided to wait for a chance of catching me alone again.

I stumbled around several corners and up and down random staircases, keeping my hand pressed against the stone wall to keep my legs from collapsing under me. I walked with no real destination besides as far away from Cooper as I could possibly get.

At some point I'd fallen through the same fake step and passed a portrait of an old man sleeping in a full suit over three times and I still had no concept of where I was. The man woke with a start as I leaned against the wall right next to him and coughed out something that sounded like a cry.

I slid down the wall and onto the ground. I could feel my emotions getting the best of me. My heart was still beating out of my chest and my hands were shaking so much that I could hardly hold my book.

The fear itself didn't bother me. I'd experienced a more fear in the year prior than most people experienced in a lifetime. What bothered me was that my eyes were burning with tears.

I wasn't known for crying.

In a kind of self realization or decision of some kind, I forced myself to the conclusion that Cooper Knight was not going to be the reason I cried.

The sound of my blood rushing was still present in my ears and the sound of my racing heart in the background was just as pronounced. I pressed my hands over my ears, trying to block it out. I could still hear the pounding though.

It was rapid and uneven… it wasn't coming from my body.

I looked up trying to locate the sound of several sets of bounding footsteps coming in my direction. It was a swarm of robes and faces that I couldn't make out through the new welling of tears in my eyes.

All I could think to do was to cover my face for protection and curl against the wall, begging for the people to leave me alone.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" I cried. "Please, don't hurt me!"

Then there were hands on my arms. They were pulling them away from my face. I struggled against them, pulling my body closer and closer together until I was nothing but a ball on the floor.

"Cassie! It's me," said the person. "It's James. Cassie, it's okay. It's me. It's me."

I peered at the person from between my fingers. The face started to work itself out through my clouded vision. The messy black hair and glasses definitely did not belong to Cooper.

Two more figures appeared behind him. Tall and skinny, Remus knelt down, picking up my pile of things from the floor. Pudgey Peter was just standing awkwardly behind them, breathing heavily from the run.

I could feel my face flushing in embarrassment. I ran my shaking hands through my hair.

"I'm sorry…" I told James. "I'm sorry… I just-"

James stuck out a hand to help me off the floor and I took my things from Remus.

"Don't worry about it," said James, a mischievous smile spreading across his face. "Wait 'til we tell you what we did to Snivilly."

Remus groaned and rubbed his temples as James went on to tell me the story about how he and Sirius had jinxed balls of congealed gravy to fly at Severus' head during dinner, how Professor McGonagall had walked in on the sixth ball flying across the hall, and how she'd practically pulled Sirius out by his ear.

None of them asked what had sent me into a nervous panic in a random part of the castle and I was grateful for that. I really didn't feel like explaining myself.

I shook my head and laughed when James said that Sirius had given him a thumbs up as they ran out of the Great Hall. First day back and it seemed that Sirius might already be in for a detention.

"You let them do this?" I asked, turning around to speak to Remus. "I thought you were Mr. Future Prefect."

Remus grimaced, "One, I'm never going to be a prefect. Two, I had no part in it, therefore I have no guilt for what happened."

"Then why'd you run?" asked Peter, still mildly out of breath. "I only ran because you ran."

"I ran because James had me by the sleeve when McGonagall turned back to ask Severus what had happened. It was kidnapping, honestly."

James snorted loudly, "You're the one that made the gravy get all solid."

Remus' face flushed. He'd been exposed.

"Not such the prefect now," I teased.

"It may be worth mentioning," said Remus. "That I was just practicing for charms."

"And so were we," said James, holding out his wand in a mock spell. "Wingardium Leviosa- right into Snivelly's ugly face. You should be proud, Remus. We're finally practicing."

Remus shook his head as we reached the portrait hole, "Cattywampus."

When we entered the common room, James suddenly looked tense. Lily Evans was standing there, a book clutched in her hands, her arms crossed, and an angry expression on her face.

"James Potter!" she hissed. "That was a dirty trick you played on Severus!"

James shrugged, doing his best to seem unphased.

"It's not like it made him anymore dirty than he already was."

Lily started to hit him with her book, and James held up his hands to defend himself. He called out for his friends' assistance. Neither Remus nor Peter moved to assist him. Remus was leaning against the sofa, his long arms crossed in front of his chest, and the slightest curl of smile on his face. Peter was pretending to be busy looking at the freckles on his hands.

"You arrogant… little… little… toerag!" Lily shrieked.

"Toerag?" said Remus. "Good one, Lily."

She shot Remus an angry look and then rounded on him.

"And you! How dare you just sit around and let them torment him! You know he doesn't have any friends. How hard can it be to mention that maybe you shouldn't be so mean to someone who hasn't done anything to anyone."

Remus put his hands up in defense, but didn't argue.

"Why do you care so much about the slimeball, anyways?" said James, looking hurt. "You don't like him do you?"

"And what if I did?" she asked.

James hadn't prepared himself for this answer. He scrambled for words, opening and closing his mouth like a fish. Lily looked triumphant, having finally managed to leave James at a loss for words. It left me suck between speaking to Lily or James and I wasn't keen on getting between their fighting. I'd had enough conflict for one day.

Lucky for me, the portrait hole opened again and their anger was put aside when Sirius walked in looking sulky. He held up a piece of parchment, and to my surprise, everyone started clapping. Even Lily, after she'd rolled her eyes, had a trace of a smile on her face as she clapped slowly.

Sirius burst into a grin and threw his arms in the air victory, showing off his detention slip to the rest of the common room

"To Snivellus!" he yelled.

"To the first detention of the year!" added Peter.

"To the first of many to come!" agreed James, slapping Sirius on the back. "And everyone said it couldn't be done. But look at you now, detention on the first day of term."

I looked around dumbfounded at the celebrating common room, sure that it had to be some kind of stupid prank.

"What the hell is wrong with you guys," I asked.

Sirius and James looked as if they were confused by my confusion.

"You see, sis," started Sirius. "we are the trouble in this school. And by trouble, I mean, we cause the only fun that goes on around here. It's truly a privilege to help make everyone's school career as eventful as possible."

"You get off on this, don't you?" I grimaced. "You just want to be defiant."

Sirius grinned at me, obviously proud of himself, "Right you are, Cassie."

"You're weird. Very, very weird."

"You know it," he said, ruffling my hair.

I pushed him off me, "I'm going to sleep."

"Night, Cassie," said James as I passed him.

I smiled softly, "Thank you… for helping me, I mean."

"Don't worry about it, Lady," he said, the slightest hint of a smirk on his face.

I furrowed my eyebrows, "Excuse me?"

"Cassiopeia," he said. "It means the Lady of the Chair."

I couldn't help but grimace. Anything that had to do with my full name was something I didn't want to have anything to do with.

"I'm just going to assume that you'll never need help with your Astrology homework."

"The only thing that seems to come naturally to me," said James, winking at me.

I rolled my eyes, "Whatever, Potter. Just don't call me that."

I was halfway up the stairs when I heard a soft, "Night, Lady" called up to me.


	4. Once Upon a Quidditch Tryout

I stood next to James, fumbling with the school's broomstick nervously.

"Would you stop that? It's making me nervous," he muttered.

"Sorry," I said.

We were standing among twenty other students. I was the youngest among them, along with the only girl. The entire Gryffindor Quidditch team was there in their Quidditch robes. It was like they were trying to prove that we'd have to have what they had if we wanted to be standing there with them.

The Gryffindor team Captain began to speak, "The names Aiden Simons, I'm the team Captain and one of the Chasers. That's the other Chaser," he pointed to a brown haired girl. "Linda Blades. Over here are the Beaters, Mason Clides and Joe Gar," Aiden said, pointing to two large build boys. "Finally, we've got our Keeper, Macyee Louis," Macyee was tall, thin, but obviously agile as well.

"There are twenty of you," Aiden continued. "Twenty of you and two positions on the team. May the best man win."

"Or women," Linda added.

"May the best man, or woman, win!" Aiden corrected himself.

I looked into the stands where groups of Gryffindors were sitting together, whispering about who they knew that was trying out.

Sirius, Remus, and Peter were watching, along with Lily Evan which obviously made James nervous, but he played it off by trying to prove himself to her.

We started by flying five laps around the field. Six of the candidates dropped out in the first two laps, obviously not actually knowing how to fly a broom.

One of the six was being taken away to the infirmary by their friends who were sitting in the bleachers watching.

James and I stayed at the same, steady pace all the way.

Then, we moved onto drills. Dives, turns, and dodges. All of those were things I'd learned while Sirius and I rode together, as I was either catching him as he fell off of his broom, or turning to watch him fall off of his broom.

Eight more dropped out.

I flew past Sirius, high fiving him before James high fived me when we hit the ground.

Aiden pointed at me, "What's your name?"

"Cassie Black," I said, doing my best not to look nervous.

"You know, you're the youngest to try out for the team in a long time. Haven't had a first year on the house teams in almost a decade."

I raised an eyebrow, "Don't see why it matters how old I am if I play well."

"I like you, Black. Fly well, talk smart," said Aiden, grinning. "Alright! Chasers tryouts up first."

Four players, including myself, stepped forward to try out for Chaser.

"You've got three attempts to get to one side of the field, to the other, and make a goal," said Aiden. "I want to see Black up first."

I swallowed and flew to one side of the field, the Quaffle tucked under my arm. In the stands Sirius, Remus, and Peter were all cheering loudly for me, and James was stood on the sidelines, giving me a thumbs up.

Then, the whistle blew.

I took a deep breath and set off. I darted past Bludgers and decoy players, making it to the goals in seconds. I tossed the red ball passed the Keeper's head and through a hoop with ease. Then I did the same thing two more times, even when a Bludger knocked my broom sideways.

I touched down next to James in less than forty-five seconds and threw the Quaffle at the next person.

"That was bloody brilliant!" said James, clapped me on the back.

I could feel my face heating up in a blush.

"Well, thanks."

The next possible Chaser ended up dropping the Quaffle halfway across the field and on the way back to the ground to pick it up the poor bloke got hit by a Bludger.

"Take him to the Hospital Wing!" Aiden called to one of the Beaters.

Sirius jumped down from the stands, "I'd say you've got a pretty good chance at the Chaser, little sister."

Remus came down after him, "Statistically speaking, it's a one out of four chance. From what I've seen the next girl is great on a broom, but I don't think she's got very good eye hand coordination."

"Stop with your smart talk, Lupin," James snorted.

Peter fell over the railing of the stands, trying to jump over just like Sirius and Remus had.

"I'm okay!" he said, breathing heavily.

I helped me him to his feet, "You could have just gone down the stairs, you know? Just because those three do reckless things does not mean that you have to participate."

His face reddened, "Thank you, Cassie."

As the next girl flew into the air, it became clear that Remus was right. She was amazing on a broom, but when it came to trying to score, she was rubbish. Two of her attempted goals were blocked by the Chaser and the last she hadn't even been close enough to scoring for the Keeper to try.

"I'd say that upped my chances a little," I muttered, watching the girl hit the group and yelling at Aiden that it was fair for one reason or another.

Aiden put his hands up in defense, trying to get her to shut up, but eventually the other Chaser and Beater had to drag her off the field.

"That's Samuel," Remus said from behind me. "He's supposed to be really good. He's tried out every year since his first year and never made it on the team. Everyone says he's been practicing all summer with his cousin who's on a world cup team."

I rubbed my temples.

"That makes me feel better…"

Samuel was good. No one could deny that. His only flaw was that he was cocky. He let Bludgers hit him just to prove that he could take the hit. He'd pretend to drop the Quaffle just to show off his dive.

"I don't know how Aiden is going to like that," said James.

"That's the thing," I muttered as Samuel landed back on the field, a stupid smile on his face. "Aiden really doesn't like that."

We all looked at Aiden. He was gritting his teeth and glaring in Samuel's direction. He whispered something Maycee Louis, the Keeper, and she nodded in agreement, also looking at Samuel like he'd just killed her cat.

"Seekers up next," called Aiden, now sounding more angry than before. "I'm going to release the Golden Snitch. You three are going to go get it,"

He held it up for the two Seeker contenders to see, blew his whistle, and threw the Snitch into the air.

"Good luck, James," I told him before he flew into the air.

The next hour was quite hard for me. I watched as the Snitch was seen multiple times, but Bludgers would get in the way, or they'd lose sight of it. Remus, Sirius, and Peter were all laying in the grass, staring up at the two Seekers or complaining that I was being annoying. I had been pacing back and forth and chewing my nails out of nerves.

Then, James was off. He flew as fast as the school broom would take him. All the way to the other side of the field. The other boys had seen it too. This time, they weren't going to let it out of sight.

Remus and Sirius were standing by my side now (Peter had fallen asleep) while James fought for his spot on the team.

Both boys had their hands outstretched for the small golden ball. Then, James' fist closed, and the other boy yelled in frustration.

"Yeah!" Sirius called out for his friend.

Peter woke up with a yelp, "What happened?"

But no one answered. James touched the ground and help up the Snitch in pride.

Aiden took the Snitch from James and shut it into the wooden box with all the other balls,

"The new Chaser and Seeker will be posted on the announcement board in the common room after dinner."

I glanced around at everyone else who had tried out. The girl with the bad eye coordination looked hopeful. Samuel was boasting to a group of girls about how they were going to be seeing him on the field for the first Quidditch match against Slytherin.

I didn't know what to think.

Sirius wrapped an arm around my shoulder and started pulling me towards the castle.

"Don't stress, Cassie. You've got this one in the bag."

The next three hours had James and I in a fit of anxiety. Aiden had told us the results would be posted after dinner but we still waited in front of the announcement board to see if maybe it'd be posted before then. When dinner rolled around Sirius had to practically drag us out of the common room so we would eat something since we'd been in tryouts through lunch.

Both of us sat at the dining table, too anxious to eat anything more than a few bites here and there.

When Peter finished eating, both of us ran back up to the common room to see Aiden, Linda, and Maycee standing in front of the announcement board.

Before we'd even reached the board, Aiden pulled two Quidditch uniforms from Linda and Maycee's hands and pushed them into James and I's chests.

"Practice starts Monday."

James and I looked at each other, speechless as Aiden and the others left through the portrait hole.

"Merlin…" said James. "I think we're on the Gryffindor Quidditch team."

I nodded, still speechless.

"I need to write to my parent…" he rambled. "I need a broom. Wow, maybe they'll get me a Bluebottle. That would be epic! Bluebottle is the best on the market."

The portrait hole opened and Sirius, Remus, and Peter came stumbling in.

"You didn't!" said Sirius.

"I think we did," I muttered back. "I think we're on the Quidditch team."

Suddenly, Samuel came into the common room, still looking cocky. He looked at our Quidditch robes, rolled his eyes and pushed past us.

"Watch it kids, I can't see the Quidditch announcements."

He shoved me out of the way, and I fell into Remus. Sirius strode up to him and got in his face. Sirius was a head shorter than Samuel. That didn't seem to dampen his spirits.

"Don't touch my little sister, you git."

"Sirius, it's fine," I said.

Samuel pushed him back, "Get out of the way, Black."

He finally caught sight of the announcements.

"Seeker, James Potter and Chaser, Cassie Black. What the hell!"

"You're surprised?" said Remus.

At some point, Remus had moved in front of me, guarding me from Samuel.

"Cassie did better than you in every way. On top of that she got a personality that the rest of the Quidditch team can stand. Can't say the same for you."

Samuel didn't say anything to this. He glared at us all and side checked Sirius before leaving the common room.

"What a dick," said Peter.

Slowly, the rest of Gryffindor came flooding into the common room from dinner. Groups were flooding around the announcement board, reading the new Quidditch players and then walking up to James and high fiving or patting him on the back. Only Lily and a few first years said anything to me. I didn't mind. Sirius was letting me look through his broomstick catalog.

"I've heard good things about Cleansweeps," said Remus, pointing at a Cleansweep 3.

"Whatever you do, do not get a Shooting Star," said Sirius. "That's what the school has. They're ancient and jerky. Not good for nothing."

"Anything," Remus corrected.

"Any what?" asked Sirius.

"You said they're not good for nothing," said Remus. "It's not good for anything."

"So?"

I rolled my eyes, "Don't worry, Remus. He does the same thing at home. Drives mum mad."

Sirius didn't argue. He did a lot of things specifically to drive our mother crazy. She already didn't like that he didn't believe in Pure Blood values. It was hell for everyone when he got put in Gryffindor. After that, he decided the best thing to do was little things simply to piss her off more.

So far, he was extremely successful.

I woke up the morning to see my Quidditch robes on top of my trunk. I stared at them for a moment, still amazed that I was now on the Gryffindor Quidditch team.

I got dressed in jeans and a tee shirt because it was a Sunday and it going to be another beautiful day. In the common room, Lily Evans was sitting with one of the girls from her grade, and James and Sirius were sitting on the other side of the room, obviously plotting something.

"You don't want to do anything to get you kicked off the Quidditch team before we even start practice, do you?" I asked, sitting down next to them.

Both boys jumped and started to cover up whatever they were doing.

"We're not doing nothing," said Sirius.

"Anything."

We all looked up to see Remus and Peter coming from the boy's dormitories.

Sirius glared at him, "We're not doing anything."

"Sure you are," said Peter. "You're always doing something. Are you working on the map?"

James and Sirius both leapt out of their seats, yelling at Peter to shut up. Lily and her friend both looked at them.

"Could you shut up?" she yelled. "We're studying."

"We've only been in classes for a week," said James. "What could you possibly be studying?"

"Jinxes," said Lily. "To hex our enemies."

"Funny," Sirius sneered.

She slammed her book shut and put all the papers into her bag.

"It would be. If we were joking."

And with that, they left out the portrait hole.

"What's her problem?" asked James.

"You." the rest of us said.

He faked a glare, and we too left for breakfast. The corridors were swarming with students who'd woken up late. Someone from another house ran up to us, congratulating James and I on being on the Quidditch team.

"I'm just sure we'll be Slytherin this year!" they said.

"You know it," said James, grinning wildly. He ruffled up his hair and straightened up, trying to look cooler.

"Youngest Quidditch player in a decade, my little sister," said Sirius, beaming. "My little sister is the youngest Quidditch player in a decade! Did you hear that? A decade!"

I covered my face with my hands while people stared at us in amusement, "Shut up, Sirius! You're embarrassing me."

"That's what she is," Remus was telling a group of Hufflepuffs. "The youngest Quidditch player in a decade. That's ten years."

"Lock up your Keeper, hide your Chasers, Cassie's coming after you," James yelled.

"I don't know them," I said to a group of Ravenclaws who were giggling at the boys.

"I've just heard about the newest Gryffindor recruits," said Professor McGonnagal, smiling brightly at us. "Congratulations, Miss. Black. You too, James."

"Thank you," we said.

"And, just between you two and I," she lowered her voice. "I'd really like it if we were to win the House Cup this year. Just so you know."

"You got it, Professor," said James with a smirk.


	5. The Hunt Begins

The end of September brought heavy rainfall, and the professors had decided that it was time to really get into our lessons.

Between Quidditch practices, classes, studying, and homework, I was a bit overwhelmed. James seemed to be feeling the same way, as he had, in fact, fallen asleep on the Quidditch pitch more than one time.

He was definitely struggling more than I was. Second years were getting double potions every other day to make up for the disaster of class that they'd had the year before. According to Slughorn, the ministry was so distraught about their test scores that they order him to do first and second year potions at the same time. He'd announced to the first years that he wouldn't accept any slacking off this year, as he was afraid of the ministry getting him sacked if another year failed his class.

James and Peter said their hardest subject was Potions so they were having an especially difficult time with the no slacking off rule. Remus and I would take turns tutoring them between writing all of Sirius' paper, but no matter how hard we tried, neither of them seemed to be able to wrap their heads around it.

After two weeks of floundering in mine and Sirius' homework, I'd finally developed a schedule for all the things that I had to do.

Quidditch had put a damper on my schedule when it started to take up more and more time as the first week of November drew closer and therefore, so did our first match against Slytherin.

"It's raining too hard!" Aiden yelled at us through the pouring rain. As I was closest to him and I had hardly heard what he said, so it didn't surprise me when the other continued through drills. "Help me get everyone inside! Someone's going to get hurt if we stay out much longer!"

It was the worst rain that we'd had all through the weeks prior. The Quidditch pitch had become a swamp that no one even tried to land on unless they were falling off their brooms from a gust of wind or simply from not being able to see Bludgers or other players coming towards them.

I squinted through the rain in an attempt to find James, Linda, or either of the Beaters when James came out of nowhere, slamming into me. He grabbed my hand and pulled me straight onto my broom, apologizing profusely.

I shook it off and nodded towards the locker room.

"We're heading in!"

James nodded, and we split up to get the rest of the team.

I dived so low to get Joe and Mason that my rain slicked broom handle practically flipped me off and into the mud.

"Woah, Cassie!" yelled Joe. "You good?"

I unstuck myself and the school broom from the mud and nodded, giving him a thumbs up. I hopped back onto my broom and followed them to the locker room. When I landed, I was covered in mud up to my thighs and my hair was sticking to my face.

"Merlin, Cassie," James sniggered. "I think your hair is alive."

"Having curly hair is a blessing and a curse." I told him, pulling off my soaked robes. I grabbed a bottle of Sleekeazy Hair Potion which I'd stolen from Sirius. "How's it look now?"

"Pretty average," said James.

He ruffled his hair with his fingers and flung water everywhere like a wet dog.

"Your hair never does anything other than messy, does it?" I asked.

He thought for a second and then smirked.

"Nope."

Back inside the castle, all of the team went back to Gryffindor tower, intent on catching up on some sleep. I waved goodbye to James and instead of following them, I went towards the Astronomy Tower so I could watch the rain instead of being in it.

Right before the tower's spiral stairway, all breath had been sucked out of my body. I grabbed at the hand that was squeezing my neck.

"This isn't a place for pretty little first year girls."

Lucius Malfoy stood high above me, his hands wrapped around my throat.

"Oh, you're Narcissa's little cousin, aren't you?" he grinned. "Pure Blood. Quick witted. We could use you in The Knights, Black. You'd be awfully helpful."

I shoved my wand into his chest, "Flipendo."

He'd obviously not expected someone so young to know how to defend themselves. The boy flew back, hitting the wall behind him. His long blonde hair was strewn and he looked through the locks of white blond to his friends who were standing in front of the staircase.

There was a large, dark skinned boy standing next to Regulus. Neither moved to help their friend. The larger boy grimaced at the floor, and I made eye contact with my twin.

"Blood is thicker than water, Regulus. You should keep that in mind."

He simply crossed his arms and gave me a dark look.

"Go cry to Sirius. See what happens when he tried to confront me. I'm going to get stronger than him. I'm not letting you two stand in my light anymore," Regulus sneered.

"I've never been the one to run to big brother when something bad happens."

"You're right," he agreed. "You just run away."

It took everything in me not to punch him in the face for that one.

I shook my head at my twin, "There's already a line between you and I, Regulus. All you're doing is building a wall too."

"Oh no," he deadpanned.

I didn't have the will to fight with him anymore. I pushed past the three boys and continued to the astronomy tower.

I willed myself not to cry when my knees gave in, and I collapsed onto the platform.

Regulus wasn't himself anymore. He was so… normal before we'd come to Hogwarts. He always aligned with our parents, but he wasn't just standing with them anymore.

He was with the Knights, whatever that meant.

"I'm glad that I'm not the only one who enjoys watching the rain."

I yelped in surprise and turned around to face Professor Carther.

"Oh Ms. Black, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you," said the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, smiling.

We stood in silence for a few moments. My brain was still twisting with thoughts of my brothers and parents, but Professor Carther didn't seem to notice me being distracted.

"You know, I read your paper on treating werewolf bites. You took a much different approach than most people did," the professor said, breaking the silence.

I glanced at him, "Different how?"

"You based the paper on how to deal with the after effects. You wrote about ways to deal with first transformations. Most people chose to write about how to clean the wound."

"Well," I thought for a moment. "Werewolf bites can't be reversed so I figure it's better to know how to deal with turning into a beast once a month rather than cleaning the wound."

Professor Carther smiled at me and leaned against the railing of the tower.

"You're friends with Remus Lupin, yes?"

"Yes. He's a close friend of my brother," I said, nodding.

"You two are the only students I've ever had to take that approach on that essay and I've assigned the same essay every year since I came to Hogwarts."

I looked into the rain for a moment. A bolt of lightning struck down into the stadium, right near we would have been if we'd continued practicing.

"Well, Remus and I seem to have a lot in common when it comes to the way we think. Both us were almost placed in Ravenclaw, you know?"

He nodded, "Interesting. Very interesting. You know, I see why Remus would take such an odd meaning to a paper, but you? I can't see why you would."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

The professor raised an eyebrow, "I see I've said too much. My apologies, it isn't mine to speak about. He will tell you if he feels the need."

"Tell me what? Something to do with his paper? Why couldn't you tell me that?"

Professor Carther let out a strange laugh. It was something between a cackle and a stitch in your side, something awfully hilarious had just happened.

"You should be getting back to your dorm now, Ms. Black. It's awfully cold up here," said the professor. "Don't worry, you'll get no points taken off from your house from being in a restricted part of the castle. Just, in the future, I think it would do you well to remember that the Astronomy Tower is only open to students during their Astronomy class."

He gave me one more smile, and a loud chuckle before he left the tower.

What an odd person…

Back in the Gryffindor common room, Lily was wrapped up in her Herbology assignment. She looked up at me when the Portrait hole closed and gasped. She stood and looked around. James was sprawled out on the sofa, his face covered in a copy of Witch Weekly. He was snoring loudly and his soaked hair was leaving a massive wet spot on the arm of the couch.

Lily rolled her eyes and ran up to the platform in front of the boy's dorms.

"Remus! Peter! She just came in!" she yelled up the stairwell.

The two boys came running down the stairs from the boy's dormitory looking worried. They looked at each other, and the worry fell off their face and was replaced in annoyance.

"I'll go find Sirius," sighed Peter, leaving through the portrait hole.

"Where's Sirius?" I asked.

Remus ran a hand through his hair and sat on the arm of the couch where James had his feet.

"Out looking for you," he told me.

"Why?"

James woke with a gasping breath. He looked around and when his eyes landed on me he let out the breath he'd sucked in.

"Where the hell have you been?" he yelled. "We've been worried sick!"

I picked up the copy of Witch Weekly from his lap and threw on the coffee table.

"Obviously," I spat. "Why is everyone freaking out?"

"When we came in from Quidditch practice McGonagall was in here telling people not to go around the castle alone until told otherwise," said James.

"There have been some reports of Slytherins grabbing kids and trying to scare them to join the hunt for Muggle Borns," said Lily, looking disgusting.

A girl from her year put her hand on Lily's back and did her best to soothe her. Lily was a Muggle Born.

"The hunt?" I asked.

"There are a lot of people who believe that Muggle Borns don't belong in our world. That they're stealing our magic," James said, as if I didn't know about the blood purists of the wizarding world.

I crossed my arms, "Are you saying that children are trying to convince children to help kill Muggle Borns?"

Remus uncrossed his arms and stepped closer to me, "By the looks of it, you ran into some of them."

He tipped my chin up to show off the new bruises forming on my neck where Lucius had grabbed me. I slapped his hand away and covered my neck with my hands.

"Don't touch me!" I gasped.

The portrait hole opened, and I quickly pulled away from Remus, still staring daggers at him.

"Cassie!" Sirius cried. He grabbed onto my shoulders and looked me over. My hand was still covering my neck so he wouldn't see anything he didn't need to see. "Are you okay? I was so worried when you didn't come in with the rest of the Quidditch team! Where were you?"

I pushed him off me.

"Calm down, Sirius. I'm fine. I was up in the Astronomy Tower," I told him. "Honestly, you all act like I can't handle myself."

Remus glared at me over Sirius's shoulder, "Cass-"

"I'm fine," I spat, throwing my hands into the air. "Honestly."

Sirius suddenly looked at my neck

"Don't lie to me Cassie."

"Who said that I'm lying?" I shot back, pulling my robes up so that everyone would stop staring at the bruises.

"I know you better than anyone. I can see when you're hiding something from me," said Sirius, eyeing me with worry.

"Obviously not!" I yelled. "Because I'm hiding a hell of a lot from you and you don't seem worried about that."

Sirius pulled himself up to his full height, which was just a little taller than I was.

"What else are you hiding from me?" he asked.

I could tell that he was genuinely worried about me. He simply let his anger and pride get the best of him. I couldn't blame him for how he was acting. I hated that I couldn't blame him for worrying about where I was all the time.

"I've got no reason to tell you anything about me, Sirius," I said. "A lot of things happened while you were in school last year and I didn't hear from you once. Hell, you don't even know where I was while you were at school last year. This summer you were with James and sending letters and gifts to all your friends while I was practically on the run all the time. Give me one good reason for me to tell you anything."

"I am your brother," he growled.

I snorted and crossed my arms.

"That must explain why you're as arrogant as Regulus," I snapped.

I pushed past Sirius and began up to the girl's dorm, but before I could even get up one step Remus grabbed my arm.

His green eyes were dark and his normally calm and tired voice had a slight edge to it.

"Sometimes you have to accept people's help. Even if you think you don't need it."

I pulled my arm out of his hand and stepped up one step before whispering something so that only he could hear me.

"Lone wolves don't run back to the pack every time they get hurt."


	6. Heads or Tails

The picture between my fingers suddenly slipped from grasp and hit the floor. I scrambled for it, reaching under the couch of the common room to retrieve it. The embers of the fire had long been extinguished, and I couldn't see anything on the floor, let alone a small picture under the darkness of the couch.

"Is this what you're looking for?" said a tired voice from the other side of the couch.

I yelped from fright and stumbled to my feet. Remus was standing there, an eyebrow raised and my picture in his hand.

"Slid out on this side," he said, pointing at the ground in front of him.

I glared at him and snatched the picture from his hand. I took my seat back on the couch and curled into the knit blanket that I'd brought down from my dorm.

"Listen," said Remus, sitting on the other end of the couch. "You can't stay mad at me forever."

"I can try," I muttered, looking down at the two people in the picture.

"I'm one of your brother's best friends," he countered.

"And I'm still mad at him," I stated. "What makes you think you'd be off the hook just because your friends with Sirius?"

"I was trying to help… so was Sirius," he said calmly.

I could recognize that he wasn't trying to pick a fight. That, he was trying to patch up any problems that had been caused. It just wasn't something I was entirely familiar with.

I stared at Remus for a moment. Thought about how Sirius was trying to 'help' by being overly protected. It sparked an old anger that I'd buried after the summer.

"He left me," I whispered. "Left me in a house where he knows bad things happen and didn't bother checking up on me for almost a year."

"If I know anything about Sirius," Remus started. "It's that he wouldn't do anything to hurt you like that."

"He wouldn't knowingly do anything to hurt me," I corrected. "And that's the problem. He's too caught up his own little rebellious world to notice when he's hurting the people around him."

"He's doing his best."

I pulled my knees up to my chest and looked back down at the picture.

How could this be him doing his best?

"Come to the Kitchen with me," he said suddenly. "The house elves love me."

"I'm- I'm good."

Remus stood and looked out the window. The sun was distant in the horizon, but it wouldn't be enough to wake anyone for at least another hour.

"You'll drive yourself mad with anger before you recover from the emotions you're hiding under it."

I threw my knitted blanket off of me and stood, pointing directly into Remus' chest, "Don't tell me what to do or how to cope with my emotions or how you think my brother feels because none of that is up to you."

I took one deep breath and pushed past him and out the portrait hole.

"Where are you going?" he called after me.

"To the kitchen, obviously!" I called back, running down the marble staircase.

Remus caught up with me, and we walked down the empty corridors together.

"We've got a house elf," I blurted out. "He hates Sirius."

"Sirius strides against your family's views on blood purity, yet he treats other magical creatures like they deserve the same treatment that some people think Muggle Borns deserve.

"I love my brother, but he needs to get his head on straight."

Remus chuckled at this but didn't say anything until we were closer to the other side of the castle.

"What are your opinions on all of this?" he asked suddenly. "I mean magical creatures and blood purity?"

I didn't really think about my answer. It just seemed to come naturally to me.

"There are already so few of us out there. Why do people feel the need to get rid of the magical blood that we do have?"

"That's a very… logical answer for an eleven year old."

"Why thank you," I said, grinning.

Remus tickled a pear on the wall, and we stepped into the kitchen.

Inside there were hundreds of little figures running all the way around an industrial kitchen. Some of them were placing food on the four long tables set up in the middle of the kitchen, others were dicing and chopping or stirring and testing the food in front of them.

I couldn't help but smile watching the small elves run back and forth, getting ready for breakfast. It was hard not to smile with all of the cheer that was practically bursting through their bodies.

"Mr. Remus! Mr. Remus! What can we do for you, sir?" squeaked an elf wearing a pink apron. Her large blue eyes twinkled with admiration when she looked up at Remus.

"Hello Dapple," said Remus, shaking her tiny hand. "This is my friend Cassie."

"Hello, Miss. Cassie," Dapple beamed, bowing so low that her nose brushed the floor.

"Dapple, can I have an extra rare dragon steak ready by lunch?" asked Remus.

"Yes, Mr. Remus, sir," said Dapple, scribbling into a tiny notepad.

"Thank you, Dapple. And make sure to put to freshest fruit at the Gryffindor table for Cassie."

"Very well, Mr. Remus."

"Do you have potato soup?" I asked.

Dapple looked around at the other bustling elves. She then shook her head so violently that her eyes flopped.

"No, but we will be sure to have some if you'd like some, Miss. Cassie."

I smiled, "No, I won't put you through the trouble. Thank you, though."

Dapple smiled back at me and shoved a hand into her apron. "Chocolate?" she asked, holding out a bar of dark chocolate.

Remus took it gratefully, "Thank you, Dapple. I'll bring Peter tomorrow."

"Oh yes, Mr. Peter!" Dapple squeaked cheerfully.

Remus and I left the kitchen together.

"She seems to think an awful lot of you," I told him.

"Found her abandoned in the woods by my house. My dad brought her here to work and she's been giving me chocolate ever since."

I snorted, "She started your addiction?"

Remus blushed, but offered me a piece of chocolate anyways.

"No, thank you, though."

"So, Cassie."

"So, Remus," I mimicked him.

"Potato soup, eh?"

A subconscious smile slipped onto my face at the thought.

"The love of my life. Potato soup in all of its glory."

"You're weird," Remus stated.

I shrugged, "You're not wrong."

"You're also incredibly smart," he said in an almost accusatory tone.

"You're still not wrong."

"Where'd you get all the brains? Like Sirius is smart. Smarter than he'd like anyone to think. But I've watched you do homework and talk about things that someone your age shouldn't even know about. How do you do it?"

I rolled my eyes at his question and pulled his sleeve to force him to follow me to a new destination.

"Where are we going?" he asked, whispering as we entered a part of the castle that we definitely were going to get caught wandering in.

I glanced around to make sure no teachers had risen and then dragged Remus up the steps to the Astronomy Tower. He tried to fight against me, but I kept my grip on his shirt until we were standing at the very top of the castle.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" he yelled.

I shoved my hand into my pocket and pulled out a seven sided coin, "Your mum's a Muggle. So, what is this?"

Remus furrowed his eyebrows.

"50 pence- listen, I don't see how this had to do with-"

"What if I said," I cut him off. "If I flip this coin and it lands heads up you live, but heads down, you die?"

Suddenly, Remus seemed to realize that he had no chance at winning this argument so he shrugged and looked at me impatiently.

"I'd say you're crazy?"

I backed away from his slowly, flipping the coin between my fingers.

"One single action has the ability to decide if you live or die and you can't do a single thing about it. Except maybe…"

"Cassie!" Remus said tensely. "You're getting close to the edge."

I looked down at the coin in one hand and down at the picture in my other.

"You have the choice to wait for death. You can make the absolute most out of life, but that won't change the fact that you could be attacked by a Muggle with a gun or a powerful wizard or a creature that could rip your entire body limb from limb."

He stepped closer to me, looking out to the edge of the Astronomy Tower as I was backing up into the railing.

"The one thing you can do is be informed," I lowered my voice. "Know what's out there. Understand how to defend yourself no matter if that's physically or psychologically. You have to be prepared or you… fall into nothingness."

Remus ran for me as I hit the railing and slipped almost all the way over it. The coin fell out of my hand when he pulled back up.

"What the hell were you thinking?"

"Because of Altruism and Egoism," I told him, still being held away from the railing. "Because, based on what I've read, all good acts truly lie in selfishness. That means that no matter how good of a person you are, everything you do is because you want to benefit yourself. That the reason you wouldn't let me fall over the railing is because you would blame yourself for the rest of your life if I died while you stood back and watched. Nobody wants to feel guilty for death or destruction."

I quickly turned away from him and pointed my wand at the railing and there was a small object flying towards us. I pressed the coin against the palm of my hand and turned back to Remus. He was still in shock for what had happened and from what I'd said.

"Because I have to feel guilty for a murder I did not commit but I did not stop for the rest of my life. So I'm going to do everything in my power to keep everyone else from feeling the same guilt over my dead body. Because in the end, all we are is skin and bone and a little bit of brain matter, but under all of that we have hearts. And you can die from a broken heart."

I opened Remus' hand and pressed our palms together. I leaned closer to his face and lowered my eyes to our hands.

"And I didn't have to read that in a book to prove it to be true."

My hand moved from his and the coin was looking back up at us. I grinned at him and stepped back towards the stairs.

"What do you know? Heads. Guess you live another day, Lupin."

Remus didn't follow me when I left the Astronomy Tower. He also didn't show up to breakfast. Peter had left to go find him and James and Sirius were arm wrestling as James' request. Lily Evans was sitting at the end of the table, watching the two in utter disappointment. He didn't seem to care what kind of attention he was getting from her as long as she was obviously paying him some mind.

All the time, though, I was eating potato soup.


	7. A Very Awkward Slug Club Dinner Party

"I don't want to be the youngest one there," I complained.

"But Regulus is going to be there," said James, sitting on one side of me.

Sirius and I both held up the number three with our fingers.

"Three minutes older than me."

Remus sat down on the other side of me, "Don't go then. Just go to class on Monday and Slughorn you were feeling under the weather."

"You don't strike me as the kind of guy that would lie to a teacher," I teased. "Nor suggest anyone else lie to a teacher."

I could hear Sirius muttering under his breath, "Lupin the prefect…"

"I normally wouldn't condone it, but if you really don't want to go, don't."

I groaned and looked into the fire.

"Come on, Lady," James encouraged.

"Don't call me that," I hissed.

He stood and put his hands in the air in defeat, "Just trying to help you out, Lady."

The portrait hole popped opened and Lily Evans and a girl from her year, Mary, stepped into the common room, both looking annoyed.

"Hello, Lily," Remus greeted.

"Yeah," said James loudly. "Hello, Lily."

Lily smiled at Remus, completely ignoring James.

"Hello, Remus. How are you tonight?"

"I'm just a little tired," said Remus thoughtfully. "Say, you're going to Professor Slughorn's party tonight, aren't you?"

"Another year of her going to Slug Club dinners and parties without me. How exciting," said Mary dryly.

Lily elbowed Mary in the side and smiled at Remus once again.

"Yes, I am. Did you get invited?"

"I'm afraid not," he said, not sounding upset about it whatsoever. "Cassie did, though. Why don't you go together?"

Lily's attention shifted to me. She seemed to be sizing me up, but I got no feeling of judgment from her eyes. A wide grin spread across his face, and she grabbed me by the arm, pulling me towards the dormitories.

"Alright then. Come on. We can get ready together."

"Thanks you, Remus," I whispered as I walked away Lily.

Up the stairs and into one of the girl's dormitories, I found myself sitting on Lily's bed while she did my hair.

"You certainly have the same hair as your brothers," she said flustered by the obvious challenge my hair had been giving her. "Thick and curly. I will say though, you pull it off a lot better than he does."

She began digging through her clothes and pulling out many different colored dresses and semi formal outfits.

"What do you think?" she asked me.

She was holding up a pair of bell bottomed slacks and fitted pink blouse.

"The pink will go well with your hair, I think," I said cautiously.

I couldn't help but admire how pretty Lily was. She reminded me of a doll. Perfect skin, pin straight hair. Of course James liked her. It was a shock that Sirius, Remus, and Peter weren't all over her too. Knowing Sirius, though, it was more likely that he did, in fact, like Lily but his respect for James came before his attraction to any girl.

"What are you going to wear?" Mary asked.

I pulled my rucksack off my bag and shoved my arm into it, grabbing at the first thing that I could find. It was a dusty pink dress with flower detailing.

"Merlin, Cassie!" said Lily, pulling the dress from my hands. "This is gorgeous! Where'd you get it?"

"My cousin," I muttered. "I got it when she… died."

Andromeda had not died and Sirius and I had been the only of her cousins to know about it when the rumor started being spread throughout the family. She's been disowned for marrying a Muggle Born. She'd sent Sirius some of her favorite records and hair products and I'd gotten nothing but a bag.

Little did I know at the time that the bag had an undetectable extension charm. I'd lose what seemed like the hundredth galleon in it and dumped it out to find an entire library, wardrobe, and thousands of nick nacks from around the world spreading across my bedroom floor.

But Lily and Mary had hardly heard what I said because they were so overtaken with the dress. I knew it to be Andromeda's wedding dress.

I smiled and took the dress back, slipping into the bathroom to change.

The dress practically swallowed my body in fabric.

"I think you just need to grow into it a little," said Lily, working to cinch it in a dozen different places. "Just get a little taller and hit puberty and it'll look perfectly… well perfect."

Mary helped me tie half my hair up into a topknot and Lily let me borrow a pair of her clogs.

I stared into the mirror on the wall, biting my lip and contemplating if I really wanted to go spend a dinner sitting with Regulus. In the end, the mirror told me that new life experiences were something you always wanted to take given the opportunity.

Lily agreed with the mirror, and we bid Mary goodnight and went down to the common room where the boys were throwing firecrackers at each other.

Sirius had abandoned his game and was practically hanging from my shoulders in seconds.

"Look at my beautiful baby sister!"

"Get off of me, Sirius!" I cried.

He reluctantly let go of me and wiped a fake tear away from his face, "You're growing up so fast!"

"You are only one year older than me!" I protested and punched him in the arm.

"You look hot," James told Lily.

Lily simply rolled her eyes and turned to Remus, who was watching us from the sofa.

"Should I do anything else to my hair?" she asked.

Remus smiled softly.

"I think you look lovely, Lil."

Lily blushed at the compliment and James looked utterly gobsmacked and followed Lily to the sofa.

"I said that already!"

"Actually," I interjected. "You said she looks hot."

"Same thing!" he argued.

"That's insulting, James! You want a girl to like you, call her beautiful or lovely."

James mocked me and went back to throwing things at Sirius and Peter. Lily and I left and headed down towards the dungeons. By the time we got down to Slughorn's office, almost everyone was already there.

"Ah! Miss. Evans and Miss. Black. Come now, sit with us. We were just about to start dinner."

I sat at the end of the table across from Regulus. Lucius Malfoy and the dark skin boy that had helped attack me in the corridor a few nights before were sat next to him. Lily sat next to me, not seeming to notice any tension between the boys in front of us and me. Next to her was a boy in old robes, with a long, black curtain of greasy hair.

"Cassie, this is my friend Severus. Severus this is Cassie Black."

"You're Sirius Black's sister?" he asked, frowning.

I looked away from him.

"This is awkward…"

Professor Slughorn broke into any conflict that might have followed by tapping a spoon against his goblet.

"Welcome to the first Slug Club dinner of the year! So good to see so many familiar faces along with a few new faces." His smiling gaze cast to Regulus and I. "So, on the topic of new members, I think I've heard a rumor that both of the Black twins made it onto their house Quidditch teams. You're the youngest Quidditch players in a decade, you know?"

"I had no idea," Regulus said, forcing a smile.

"The Slytherin versus Gryffindor games are always exciting to watch. Both houses are so competitive. I guess a little sibling rivalry will just be the cherry on top, yeah?" he chuckled at himself, his pot belly jiggling.

I shrugged, "Seeing as he's Seeker and I'm a Chaser, we won't have much to do with each other during the games. It's James Potter he should be worrying about."

Lily snorted from beside me.

"I guess we'll just have to see what happens, won't we?" said Slughorn.

"I guess you're right," I deadpanned, glaring in Regulus' direction.

As dinner continued I hardly ate anything. I felt my stomach twisting into knots sitting so close to Regulus. He was enjoying conversation with his new friends but his gaze would shift to me with a sudden look of resentment.

As dessert I took a few of the fruit options that were offered. No matter how much I loved fruit, it still made me feel sick to eat anything.

"So, Miss. Black," said Slughorn suddenly. "Professor Carther tells me you're doing exceptionally well in his class."

I raised an eyebrow.

"Does he?"

"Said your essays on werewolves and giants were incredible. Tell us, how do you know so much?"

"Yeah Cass," said Regulus, grinning. "Tell us."

I felt chills run up my spine when he called me that. I sputtered for a second, not sure how to react to Slughorn or Regulus.

"I- I- uh… love reading. Those are just some things I enjoy reading about, I guess."

"That's wonderful!" said Slughorn gleefully. He glanced to an hourglass on his desk. "Oh my! Look at the time. You all better get off to your dorms!"

After Lily had parted ways with Severus, we began walking alone.

"That wasn't as bad as I thought it would be," I told Lily when we entered the Gryffindor common room.

"Wait until he starts asking you about your family and any connections you've got."

I wrinkled my nose, "I'm not keen on talking about my family."

"From what I've heard, I don't blame you. I'm sure Regulus will do all the talking for you, though."

I snorted at his and pointed to the sofa where Remus asleep. Low snored drifted out of his breath. He was very asleep.

"You think we should leave him there? I'd feel bad waking him. Doesn't seem like he gets enough sleep as it is."

Lily laughed quietly.

"Do you know what people will do if they find him down here? I couldn't even begin to imagine it."

"Yeah… you're right," I told her. "I'll take care of him. Thanks for helping me get ready."

"Thanks for making the night so tolerable."

When Lily was up the stairs, I sat on the sofa next to Remus' sleeping figure. For the first time since I met him, he didn't look tired.

I put my hand on his arm, "Remus."

His green eyes opened slowly and he looked at me, to exhaustion seeping back onto his face.

"Back already?" he groaned.

"Remus, it's almost one in the morning."

He sat up slowly and looked around at the empty common room.

"I was going to just let you sleep down here," I said honestly. "But I'm sure someone would have mess with you."

"Smart," he said, smiling slightly. "How was the dinner?"

"I didn't eat," I chuckled. "Fruit was old."

"No potato soup?" he asked.

I grinned, "No potato soup. Honestly, that would have made the whole night worth it."

"That bad?"

I nodded, "I had to sit across from Regulus and pretend like he hasn't disowned me as his sister which is always a good time. His creepy older friends kept staring at me and Snivillus… uh, Severus was not happy to find Sirius' little sister there."

"Sounds like… fun?" he said, trying to keep a smile hid away.

"The definition of fun," I agreed sarcastically. "Anyways, I think I'm going to turn in now. You know, too much fun was had today."

Remus nodded, the smile finally forcing itself onto his face, and both of us stood and started towards our dorms.

"Hey, Cassie?" called Remus before I disappeared into the girl's dorms. "You look lovely tonight."

I blushed

"Thank you, Remus. Now, go get some sleep. You look like hell."


	8. And the Crowd Goes Wild

The entirety of the Great Hall was filled with excited chatter on the first Saturday of November. Three-fourths of the hall was covered in students wearing their best red and gold outfits. Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs were borrowing scarves and hats from their friends in Gryffindors and the Gryffindors were doing their best to finish up some last-minute signs to hold up during the first Quidditch match of the year.

It was Gryffindor versus Slytherin.

All of the Slytherin's were sat at their table, filling that side of the Great Hall with a thick crowd of green and silver. They were all talking quietly to their Quidditch team, sometimes turning around to point at the Gryffindor players.

I'd made the mistake of facing towards the Slytherins. I could see every sneer and aggressive gesture they were making towards our table. It was also the first time I'd see the Slytherin team. They were all wearing their Quidditch robes, so they stood out against the crowd of cloaks and sweaters.

They were all so much bigger than I was. Every single person aside from Regulus had at least half a head of height on me. It was intimidating to say the least.

"Cassie, you have to eat," said Sirius.

I couldn't get myself to speak to anyone. My nerves hadn't been that high in a long time.

I felt like I was choking on my own breath. My hands were shaking.

"Cassie," said Sirius. "Cassie! Look at me."

He took me by the shoulders and forced me to look at him.

"Don't pay an ounce of attention to them. All they're doing is trying to psych you out. You've got to pull yourself together. You're the youngest Gryffindor Quidditch player in a decade because you're incredible."

I nodded slowly and took a deep breath.

"I know," I told Sirius. "I've got this."

"Now eat some of the potato soup you got detention for and put your game face on!"

I laughed and took a bowl of potato soup at Sirius' request. No, it wasn't breakfast food, but it was the only thing I wanted to eat in that moment.

James, Remus, and Peter came running into the Great Hall.

"Aiden's coming!" said Peter.

"He's not having a good day," James grumbled, falling into the seat next to me and rolling his eyes.

"Eat that quickly," said Remus. "The second the owls come in, you're gonna be out on the pitch."

I sighed and looked down at my soup. So much for a relaxing breakfast.

"Cassie!" Aiden yelled as soon as he stepped into the Great Hall. "Mail in yet?"

"Do you see a broomstick sitting on the table?" I asked him.

"Don't sass me right now," he barked.

"Sorry, but this is my first match and you're freaking me out!" I retorted. "You've been on my back about this every second of every day for weeks over the stupid broomstick! It's coming today."

"Why couldn't you have ordered it sooner?" he grumbled.

"I ordered it the day I found out that I was on the team! What did you want me to do?" I asked, pushing my soup away.

"James got his broom weeks before you!"

I rolled my eyes and dropped my forehead to the table.

"You're so dense, Aiden!" I screeched. "His parents went and bought it from the store and then owled it to him. I barely have parents so I had to order it myself. I'm not a top priority of the Bluebottle Company."

"I'll be on the pitch. The second your broom gets here, you and the rest of the team meet me out there. We need to do at least one drill with your new broom."

As Aiden stormed away, James and I turned to each other to mock him.

"So, Remus," started Sirius.

James and I both grimaced when he started talking.

"Got yourself and my little innocent baby sister caught and put in detention? What were you thinking?"

"That we were both hungry," Remus deadpanned, not bothering to look up from his book.

I couldn't stop myself from snorting a laugh. Sirius glared at me and I put my hand over my mouth to hold in another laugh.

"I still can't believe you got yourselves caught!" Sirius scolded. "I thought for sure that being my sister would have given you my mischievous genes."

"We weren't really trying to sneak. We were just trying to get to the Kitchen for some food," Remus told Sirius. "It was harmless really. If it had been anyone other than Filch that caught us we wouldn't even have detention."

Before Sirius could argue anymore, James pointed up at the windows.

"Here comes the mail..." I muttered.

I bit my lip nervously, glancing at every single larger package an own was carrying.

"There!" James called, pointing to a large barn owl.

Sure enough, the owl dropped the broomstick wrapped in brown paper in front of me before holding out its leg for pay.

While I searched for the money to pay the owl, James and Sirius made quick work of unwrapping the broomstick. By the time the owl had left, I was staring at the most beautiful thing I'd seen in my entire life.

"Bluebottle 02," I gasped. "It's gorgeous."

"We better get out to the pitch before that view in Aiden's forehead explodes," said James.

I rolled my eyes and stood up, broom in hand. James ran to round up the rest of the team, and Sirius, Peter, Remus, and I went out to the Quidditch pitch where Aiden was pacing.

I held the broom up in the air and his face flooded with relief.

"Drills, now!" he ordered.

He didn't have to tell me twice.

I mounted the broom and kicked off. I'd never flown through the drills quite like I did while riding the Bluebottle. I didn't feel like I was directing it at all. It was moving with every shift of my body. My dives were sharper, my turns were faster, and best of all, I knew that I could be faster than the bludgers without straining my broom now.

I smiled as I got off the broom and the Quidditch team was yelling and high fiving me out of pure excitement.

Aiden only nodded, but I could see that he was now confident.

"Gryffindor," he yelled. "We're gonna win this house cup!"

All of us cheered in agreement.

"Ten minutes guys. Head to the locker room for pregame."

James and I said goodbye to Sirius, Peter, and Remus. Remus was still buried in his book so I wasn't sure that he'd even seen me on the new broom. In that moment, though, I didn't care. Everyone in Hogwarts was about to see what I could do.

In the locker room, we huddled into a circle and Aiden looked around at everyone.

"James and Cassie, we're gonna show you our pregame."

James and I looked at each other, confused over what he meant.

All the older players started rocking back and forth as Aiden started to chant something that sounded like a poem.

"If you think you are beaten, you are;

If you think you dare not, you don't.

If you'd like to win, but think you can't

It's almost a cinch you won't.

If you think you'll lose, you've lost,

For out in the world we find

Success being with a fellow's will;

It's all in the state of mind."

The rest of the team then started jumping and yelling along, getting louder and louder with every verse.

"If you think you're outclassed, you are:

You've got to think high to rise.

You've got to be sure of yourself before

You can ever win a prize.

Life's battles don't always go

To the stronger or faster man,

But soon or late the man who wins

Is the one who thinks he can."

By the end of the pregame, the locker room was filled with excited energy and a sense of already established accomplishment.

The whistle blew and Gryffindor and Slytherin met in the center of the field. The student announcer began to yell into the megaphone.

"Today's match, Slytherin versus Gryffindor! Each team sporting new players. Both teams bring on a new Seeker. James Potter for Gryffindor and Regulus Black for Slytherin. Not only that, but Gryffindor brought on Regulus' twin sister Cassie as a Chaser! This should be a fun bought of sibling rivalry."

Madam Hooch walked onto the field and stood between the teams.

"Captains shake hands."

Aiden stepped forward to the Slytherin Team Captain and shook her hand.

"Good luck," Aiden said.

The Slytherin Captain snorted a laugh.

"Like we're going to need it."

"Gryffindor Captain, Aiden Simons shaking hands with Slytherin Captain, Emma Vanity."

Madam Hooch blew her whistle.

Then we were off.

Linda managed to get to the Quaffle before anyone else had the chance. She threw it to Aiden, and Aiden came in my direction.

A very beefy looking Slytherin boy was hovering in front me, obviously ready to block me when the Quaffle came towards me.

I moved to dodge a Bludger and whipped around the boy in time to grab the ball and throw it through one of the hoops, missing the Slytherin Keeper by inches.

"And ten points to Gryffindor! What a score by newbie, Cassie Black. Oh, her brother is seething!" the Ravenclaw announcer yelled.

Aiden gave me a thumbs up before flying back to his post.

The game only got better from there.

It had been almost an hour, and the score was 100 to 20.

None of the Slytherin Chasers had been aware that Macyee had gotten a new broom at the start of the year. From what I'd heard, that was one of our best-kept secrets of the year. The year before, she was good at being Keeper. With a new broom, she was almost unstoppable.

"Come on, Potter!" Aiden yelled James when we got to 150 points.

"I'm working on it!" James yelled back. "Just give me some time."

As the game continued, I began to worry if James was going to be able to find the Snitch. He'd only seen it once since the game started and it was lost sight of it when a Beater hit him in the head with their bat.

I ducked under another Bludger.

"Watch it!" I barked at the Beater who'd seemed to be targeting me the entire game.

"Name of the game, girly," said the Beater, smirking at me.

"I don't remember anyone saying anything about ruining a pretty girl's face," Mason yelled, slamming the Bludger back at the Slytherin.

"Cassie!" called Aiden threw the Quaffle my way.

I hardly saw the Bludger coming at me before my nose broke, my head began to pulse, and the Slytherin Beater's laugh was echoing in my head. My grip started to slip and my vision went spotty. I felt my eyes starting to bruise from the way my nose broke and the pain was more intense than anything I'd felt in a long time.

All the time, though, I held onto the Quaffle. I somehow found the strength to pull my broom up and face the Beater.

"I do believe, I told you to watch it," I growled, spitting blood that was spilling from my nose and into my mouth.

"Don't cry, girly. It's all in good fun."

I forced a smile and my fists drew into balls.

"Timeout!" Aiden yelled from behind me.

I turned to him and tossed the Quaffle.

"I don't need a timeout!" I wined. "I'm fine!"

"There's blood running down your face!" said Joe, flying up next to Aiden. "Sorry neither of us blocked that. Their other Beater was going after Maycee."

I shook my head and wiped the blood from my face.

"I'm good, don't worry about it," I told them.

"You're sure that you're good to keep playing?" asked Linda.

"Definitely," I said, nodding.

The crowd began to cheer louder as I flew up to take my penalty.

"With blood running down her face, Cassie Black is about to take her penalty shot!" the announcer yelled.

I made the shot easy and threw the Quaffle off. Regulus was flying around my post and he stopped next to me.

"You okay?"

I glared at him.

"Like you care."

When James began to fly across the pitch towards the Snitch, Regulus was still facing me. I grinned and pointed at James.

"You gonna go get that… or?"

Regulus turned and his face dropped. James' hand was in the air, holding up the Snitch in a Gryffindor victory.

"And with a score of 450 points, Gryffindor takes the first match of the season!"

All of Gryffindor raced onto the pitch to celebrate together. I threw my arms around James.

"You did it!"

"You got us 210 points, Lady! You did it!"

"Cassie!" Sirius pulled me into a hug. Then he pushed me away to look at my face. "Sporting two black eyes, a broken nose, and a bloody smile! I am proud to call you my little sister."

"Well, thanks," I beamed.

Remus and Peter forced James and I into a group hug.

"I'm going to get you all bloody," I told them.

The rest of the Quidditch team joined in on the hug too.

"To James," yelled Aiden. "The fasted Seeker in a decade!"

Everyone cheered, even Lily Evans. James took a bow and ran a hand through his hair to mess it up a little more.

"And to Cassie!" Aiden cheered. "The toughest girl Quidditch has ever seen!"

Linda, Maycee, and I all hugged.

"To the girls who make this team what it is," said Maycee.

"Hell yeah!"

It seemed that the entirety of Gryffindor house was going to be voiceless by the end of the night. No one could stop yelling. Even Professor McGonagall had joined the crowd at some point.

And if Slytherin thought we could get any louder, James held up the Golden Snitch in pride.

"This year's Quidditch House Cup is going to Gryffindor!"


	9. Coincidences of Lycanthropy

Filch had Remus and I sitting out by the Black Lake scrubbing moss off of the boats that the firsts years came to Hogwarts in. According to him, he'd known when he wrote us the detention slips that it was meant to be the worst rain we'd seen all year.

Hagrid had been nice enough to set up a large tent for us to work under, but that didn't stop the wind from blowing rain into our faces when we dragged the boats into and out of the tent.

Within twenty minutes, both of us were soaked with freezing rain and our fingers were numb to the point of it being nearly impossible for us to work.

"This sucks," I groaned.

"Sirius and James have almost blown Filch up more times than I can count and he's never almost given them hypothermia or frostbite…" grumbled Remus, gritting his teeth.

"I just wanted potato soup," I whined.

We were practically frozen into silence for thirty more minutes. At some point it became clear to both of us that if we didn't speak or create some kind of external motivator, we weren't going to have enough will to get back into the castle when someone finally came down to fetch us.

"Who are you going to the Slug Club Christmas Party with?" Remus asked me.

"I haven't really thought about it," I said honestly. "Been kind of focused on Quidditch."

"Are you going to ask anyone?" he questioned.

I thought about it for a moment and then shrugged.

"Can't really think of any viable options. Not unless you would like to go with me?"

"I would for sure go with you, but I already agreed to go with Lily," said Remus.

"Isn't she going with Severus?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"He's got a date already."

"Severus has a date and I don't? Wow that sure helps my self esteem," I grumbled.

"I believe that he is taking Mary so that her and Lily can go together."

I snorted a laugh. Guys are never kidding when they say that girls travel in packs.

"Surly there's someone you can go with," Remus assured me. "What about James?"

"You want to deal with James and Lily in the same room for an entire night?" I countered.

"Fair enough," he sighed, scrubbing at a particularly thick bit of moss. "I'd say Peter, but he's scared of you."

"Isn't everyone?" I sneered. "Why did I even agree to join something called the Slug Club?"

"Because you're bad with authority?" he joked.

"Excuse you!" I said, throwing a chunk of moss at him. "I'm great with authority."

"I'm so so so sorry, Mr. Filch. Please don't give Remus detention. It was all my idea. Honest. I was just trying to-" mocked Remus. He broke off laughing when I glared at him.

"Fine, you're right. I don't like authority. But, growing up with my parents, it's kind of expected."

"Sirius doesn't seem to have a problem with getting in trouble."

"Sirius enjoys challenging authority. Our parents can't find ways to discipline him with effect, so eventually they just resulted to…" I trailed off, thinking about what I could and couldn't admit to people. "Never mind."

"I've seen the marks on his back. From where they beat him," said Remus sadly. "Do they do that to you?"

I twitched under the sudden pressure of exposing the things that happened behind the door of our home. Even Regulus and I didn't talk about it. Who was I to tell anyone outside of the house what was happening? Especially someone I didn't even know.

"Sorry, I shouldn't have asked," said Remus awkwardly.

"Don't worry about it. I just-" I trailed, my eyes following a shadow on the outside of the tent.

Remus turned to see what I was looking at, but the shadow had shifted out of view.

Then it stopped, and I pointed to it without saying a word. It was an animal. It drew back, pushed its head to the sky, and let out a piercing howl. Several others called out to it after a few long seconds.

"It's just a wolf," whispered Remus.

As he said this, there was another howl that shook me to my core. I found that I'd sunk back into the corner of the tent and curled into the fetal position. I covered my ears, trying to focus on anything other than the wolf on the outside of our tent.

"Cassie, Cassie," said Remus, reaching out to comfort me. "It's okay. It's a Pureblood."

"It's a what?" I sputtered.

"A Pureblood werewolf. Two bitten werewolves conceived on the full moon and created a pack of intellectual wolves. Dumbledore let the couple release them into the Forbidden Forest so they'd always be safe. They're pure. They won't hurt you or anyone else."

"How do you know that? How can you tell that it's not just a normal wolf?"

He flushed and looked back at the approaching shadows.

"Because I'm one of them."

Everything seemed to freeze. It wasn't until every possible thought ran through my head that I felt a sudden rush of calm. It finally made sense.

"The draught of peace..." I whispered. "For you to sleep during the full moon."

Relief flooded Remus' face. Relieved that I hadn't just ran out of the tent screaming, he smiled a little.

"And that means you're the one who stole Slughorn's copy of the recipe."

I blushed.

"I was curious," I admitted to him. "And somehow it never made sense to me... not until now. The larger amounts of ingredients... because you're body can handle it. I knew that I'd seen it somewhere before. I just couldn't find it in any books, because I hadn't seen it in a book. I'd gotten it for-"

"Emily knight?" he said. Though, it was hardly a question. He just… knew.

I gaped at him. No one knew about what happened to her. Not even her own family knew the truth.

"How do you...?"

"My father works in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. He works closely with some werewolf allies of the Ministry. They work to spy on some of the people who used their Lycanthropy to hurt other people. He heard about it after she died. Heard that it was because someone kept Fenrir Greyback from killing any more muggles kids and he attacked out of anger."

"How did anyone know about that?" I asked more to myself that to Remus. "It was just Emily and I. We never told anyone about what happened. We just-"

"You may not understand how incredible it is that you kept a killer of dozens of people at bay, but other people do. The spies heard him talking about what he'd done. Why he'd done it. How he showed some little girl that he's not to be messed with."

I felt a tear run down my face.

Remus moved awkward across the tent and pulled me into a hug.

"It was all my fault," I cried. "I couldn't save her and it was my fault that she got bitten in the first place."

"That's not what I meant, Cassie. Greyback is ruthless. He doesn't care about who he's hurting as long as he's hurting someone. That's why he came after me."

At this new revelation, our strange and awful connection to Fenrir Greyback forced us into silence. Both of us needed time to think… to comprehend everything we'd just reviled about ourselves and our pasts.

But all the time, Remus hugged me. Part of me believed that it was because being so close together made us warmer. I knew it was because he was soft hearted and he couldn't sit around while someone around him was in any kind of pain.

"Why did she die?" I asked finally. "I gave her the Peace Draught. I made sure that she couldn't hurt herself or anyone else."

"Her bones were brittle because of her age. You can take all the Peace Draught in the world, but all that'll do is help you sleep through the full moon. There's not a thing anyone can do if your body can't handle the transformation. You did everything you could, Cassie. I promise you that."

"I just tried so hard," I whispered.

"I'm so so sorry that you lost her. But you did everything any amazing friend would do," he assured. "And as my friend, I'm begging you not to tell anyone about my condition. I knew about Emily. About how you cared so much for her so I knew I could tell you, but I can't lose James and Sirius or Peter. They're the best thing that's ever happened to me."

"If I promise not to tell them about you, then please don't tell anyone about Emily, Remus. Her family doesn't even know what happened. They think she got hurt, and I ran and left her to die and I can't bear to tell them otherwise. They would never live down knowing that they had a werewolf in the family… even if it was only for a month."

Remus held out his hand and extended his pinky finger. I looked at his finger and raised an eyebrow.

"What's that for?"

"This is a muggles version of an unbreakable bow... it's a pinky promise."

I looked at his finger again and let out a laugh.

"Pinky promise? What happens if you break it?"

He flushed a little.

"Well, nothing. It's more of just sealing in a deal. It's like a verbal contract and if you break it then you're a git and no one trusts you anymore."

"Whatever you say, Lupin," I said, grinning.

I reached out with my pinky finger and linked it with his.

"Do we have to say a magic word or something?" I teased.

Remus dropped his hand and sighed.

"Forget it!"

"No, Remus I'm kidding," I whined. I forced his hand back up and looped our fingers again. "I pinky promise."

He smiled softly.

"As do I."

"What in Merlin's name is going on out here!" came a shrill voice closer to the castle. "Do you have any idea what time it is?"

Professor McGonagall appeared in the mouth of the tent, her robes and hair soaked and blown around by the wind.

"This is what Filch gave us for detention," said Remus.

McGonagall looked flabbergasted.

"Oh my… Well, you better believe that I'm going to be having a word with Professor Dumbledore about this. I'm so sorry to you both. I should have read your detention slips as your head of house. This is all my fault. Oh my… You two must be freezing," she shrieked. "Inside! Now. Straight to Madam Pomfrey for some Pepperup. Then up to your dorms to dry off. That's an order."

We grateful rushed into the warmth of the castle with McGonagall on our heels. We didn't even think about skipping out on our visit to Pomfrey, even if the Pepperup made our ears steam for a little while. It was worth it to have some feeling in my limbs again.

In the common room, though it was late, James, Peter, and Sirius were sat around the coffee table playing Exploding Snap.

Judging by the buy the swollen fingers, it was obvious that Peter was losing.

Lily was pretending to read a book on the sofa behind them, though her eyes kept drifting to the game. She smiled a little when James almost lost a finger to one of his cards.

I looked through the water droplets on my watch.

12:09.

On my way towards the girl's dorms, I knelt down next to Sirius and kissed his cheek.

"Happy birthday, bub," I whispered so the others couldn't hear.

"Thanks, Cassie," he muttered, trying to keep his eyes on the cards. "Love you."

Even though Sirius said this to me quite often, it still made my heart jump in happiness every time the words left his mouth. No one in the family beside Sirius, Alphred, or Andromeda had ever told me they loved me.

"Love you too," I told him. "Goodnight."

"Night, Lady!" James called to me as I left for the girl's dormitories.

"Night, Cassie," Remus said, giving me a tired smile before retreating to his dorm for a dry change of clothes.

"Night, guys… And Lily."


	10. To Save A Werewolf

"So Lady, how was detention?" James asked, sliding into the seat next to me at breakfast.

Remus and I glanced at each other.

I snorted out a laugh.

"Incredibly boring and totally uneventful."

"I wouldn't say that," said Remus. "I mean, McGonagall almost blew her top when she found us out there. Filch must have gone through the ringer last night."

"I heard one of the prefects saying they were out doing a sweep of the halls last night and heard voices so he went to check and found heard her yelling at someone in her office," said James. "She was pissed."

"He deserves whatever happens to him," Sirius spat, sitting on the other side of me. "Got me detention again."

"On your birthday?" said Peter. "That sucks, mate."

"It was a birthday stink bomb in the girl's lavatory," said Sirius, suddenly grinning. "Nothing harmful."

"Oh, but it was funny to see them run," said James.

"You know what wasn't funny, Potter?" said Sirius, leaning on the table and glaring at James. "Watching you run away with them."

James' face turned red in embarrassment.

"Happy birthday…"

Sirius shook his head and stole a piece of bacon from James' plate.

"So Cassie," he said, turning to look at me.

"So Sirius?" I mocked.

"What did my beautiful, wonderful, intelligent little sister-"

I pulled a jacket out of my rucksack and set it in front of him before he could finish.

"Happy birthday. Glad you were born."

He stared at it for a moment, holding his breath. He tried to speak, but his mouth kept moving noiselessly. He looked between me and the jacket and then to the other boys.

"Do you see this?" he asked them.

"It just so happens that we haven't lost our eyesight in the last few seconds," said Remus sarcastically.

But Sirius wasn't listening.

"Wow," he gasped, holding the jack up in front of his to admire every inch of it. He flipped it around to see the back and then back over to see then front again and so on until he'd completely soaked up the details of his new possession. "Where'd you get this?"

"Found it at an old Muggle market."

He pulled his robes off and pulled the leather Harley jacket onto his body.

It hung off of him slightly, having obviously been made for a grown man. This didn't seem to bother Sirius, though. He stood and did his best to look as badass as he obviously felt.

"This is incredible," he beamed. "Thank you, Cassie."

He wrapped an arm around my shoulders and forced me into a hug to kiss my forehead.

"I know that you've been wanting one, so I figured now's a great time to get your punk rock phase started."

"I think you might have started something, Cassie," said Peter grimly.

"As if he wasn't rebellious enough as it is," grumbled Remus. "Now he's going to have the mentality of a rock and roll junkie."

"I don't know what you two are on about," said James, standing to look at Sirius' jacket. "This is gnarly, man. I'm gonna have to get my parents to get me one of those distressed jean jackets or something."

The two started discussing their future wardrobe plans, hyping each other up like girls would do before a party. Remus watched them, an amused grin on his face, and Peter was shoveling eggs into his mouth faster than what should have been possible.

"Yo, Cass!" called a voice from the Ravenclaw table.

I flinched and looked to see Cooper Knight reeling back to throw something in my direction. He threw a paper airplane towards me and it fluttered like it was some kind of weird, misshapen bird. It landed directly in front of me and unfolded itself so I could read it.

"What's Knight want with you?" asked Sirius, grabbing at it.

I grabbed a chunk of his and pushed him away from the letter.

"Don't worry about it."

_Meet me at the base of the astronomy tower in five minutes. Alone._

I glared at Cooper.

"You're mental!" I called back to him.

He just grinned and started towards the doors of the Great Hall. He tapped his watch once as he disappeared into the corridor.

I groaned and slammed the book in front of me closed, marking my place with a quill. I pushed it towards Remus.

"Read it. Think about it. If you say no, I'll kick you in the shins," I spat more aggressively than I'd meant to.

He looked at me like I'd gone completely insane.

"And if I'm not back to Gryffindor Tower in twenty-five minutes, Knight pushed me off the Astronomy Tower."

"Glad you've got all your bases covered," said James sarcastically. "Why don't we come with you?"

I bit my lip in contemplation.

I couldn't risk Sirius finding out about Emily if she was the topic of Cooper's request.

"I'll be fine. He's just a little toerag sometimes."

Sirius snorted.

"That's one way to say it. He's completely obsessed with her. Hasn't left her alone since she was tall enough to look out her bedroom window."

"What can I say? I'm the definition of his girl next door. Even our bedroom windows line up. It's obviously fate."

"He's obviously trying to mate with you like a dog in heat."

"You're one to talk," I said, grinning at Sirius.

He glared at me, but didn't try to stop me as I walked out of the Great Hall.

I kept my wand close as I got closer to the base of the Astronomy Tower. To my surprise, Knight was just leaning against the wall, his wand not even in sight.

"What do you want, Cooper?" I asked nervously.

He smiled, his eyes trailing down to my wand.

"You really don't trust me, Cass?" he asked.

I flinched.

"Don't call me that."

"I'll call you what I want, Black."

His aura was suddenly radiating anger and aggression. I backed away from him, afraid to be too close to him in case he snapped. Cooper's eyes raked over me once more, and his face softened as though he'd realized that I'd picked up on any kind of negative energy he was putting off.

"I know you need a date to the Slug Club Christmas Party," he said.

I furrowed my eyebrows.

"Who says?"

"Come on, Cass," he scoffed. "Who'd want to go with you?"

"That's why I'm not taking you," I retorted. "Disrespectful."

"Am I wrong?" he asked, his lips turning up into a smirk.

I crossed my arms and shot him a glare, but said nothing in return.

"Go with me," he said, surprising me with a strangely straight face.

"You're kidding!"

"I'm not. And you know what, Cass?" he asked, stepping closer to me. "You owe it to me."

"I don't owe you anything," I shot back.

"You murdered my sister!" he yelled.

"You don't even know how she died!"

"I want to go to that dance," he growled. "And you're going to get me in."

"Bite me," I said, pushing past him.

Cooper grabbed my wrist and held me where I was.

"Be my date," he warned. "Or your brother is going to find out about your problem with running away from home. Staying with people you know he wouldn't approve of."

I flushed.

"I'll take you."

Cooper smiled and let go of my wrist.

"Good. See you then, Black. Don't be late."

I must have looked particularly gloomy when I got back into the Gryffindor Common Room, because Sirius was immediately threatening to beat Cooper up, and James was ready to be his second hand. I just waved them off and ran upstairs and into my dorm.

This was not the first time that Cooper had threatened me with information he'd gotten from spying on me through my bedroom window. He'd used that kind of information against me to get money or a good word in with my parents. Although blackmail wasn't new to me, using Sirius against me was something that broke my heart a little. He was my saving grace so many times, and the thought of losing anyone one else, especially Sirius, because of Cooper Knight made me sick to my stomach.

The dorm was empty because breakfast was still happening downstairs. Classes didn't start for another half hour, so I was free to contemplate my choices and dwell in self hatred for a little longer.

I stared at the picture on the nightstand. Emily Knight and I were laughing, while Cooper was trying to take a photo of us at our request. We'd never managed to take a photo where we weren't laughing.

She was so much prettier than me. I'd always wondered why someone pretty would want to be my friend. Her pin straight blonde hair and kind green eyes contrasted me in so many ways. Even when happy, my steely eyes still shone with sadness and hatred for the world around me.

That picture was taken the day before she was bitten. The last day I'd ever seen her smile.

I took the frame in my hands and stared down at it… one of the last times I'd genuinely smiled.

My fingers tore a folded piece of parchment taped to the back of the frame. I started to tremble when I flipped over the photo and saw the untidy handwriting that I'd read so many times. I'd forced myself to forget that it ever happened after she died. Forced myself to try to forget the truth. I slowly unwrapped the parchment and read it, my eyes scanning across it quickly, having memorized everything that was written in the months after Emily had died.

_Dear C.W.B._

_From my understanding, your friend is just starting to grow into her body. Her bones are brittle due to her age and this makes your desire to keep this hidden exceptionally dangerous. Though, as vague as you've been, I can't say that I know the entire situation. _

_Yes, I work in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. You need to understand that Boggarts are my specialty. I'm the lead of the Being department, but that doesn't mean that I know nothing about Werewolves. I know more than I wish I'd ever had to learn._

_I'm going to give you the information that I've got, but I highly recommend you taking your friend to St. Mungo's as quickly as you can. _

_I've attached a recipe for a different version of the Draught of Peace than you could have ever read in a book. It will not help the strain on her bones, but given she survives the actual transformation, you can use it to keep her asleep during the night._

_If she's asleep, she can't hurt anyone else or herself. _

_Take her to a place as far into the woods or some kind of secluded area as you can. Don't tie her down, though. She's more at risk for injuring herself without the ability to move her limbs all the way. Hide in a place where she cannot smell or reach you. It may sound harsh, but your safety comes above her's in this situation. All you can do is make sure you're safe, because that, in turn, keeps her safer. _

_Owl me back with updates or questions._

_Signed, L.J.L._

I felt all kind of emotions welling up inside of me. I'd done everything he'd said except take her to St. Mungo's. I knew that they might have been able to save her, but what would her life had been like if she was constantly outrunning her identity? She'd become a social piraya if the news slipped from the hospital. Her parents would have disowned her.

She would have rather died than lose her family.

I pulled a fresh piece of parchment from my bag and scribbled a short note onto it.

_Dear L.J.L._

_As you've probably realized, Emily died. It happened just as you said it would. Her bones collapse from the pressure, and I had to watch her die. As crazy as it sounds, it doesn't make me afraid of Werewolves. Lycanthropy isn't normal in any world, but it's an unwanted reality for some people. All I know now, is that I want to work with Werewolves. _

_I want to help them._

_Signed, C.W.B._

As single tear hit the paper, smudging my initials. Just as I realized that ink was running, the dorm door opened.

I quickly rubbed my eyes for any excess tears and threw everything under my pillow.

"Hey," said Lily quietly. "You okay?"

"Fine," I said quickly.

"Remus asked me to give this to you," she said, holding out the book I'd told him to read.

"Thanks," I said, forcing a smile.

"You're sure you're okay?" she asked again.

"Definitely."

As soon as she'd left, I opened the book to see Remus' loopy handwriting in between the pictures on the page.

_You're crazy, Cassie. Absolutely mental. But I know you'll try it by yourself if I don't help, so I figure I can lend a helping paw._

I felt my anxiety and sadness slip away. I quickly tied my letter to the small owl that I'd found in the London streets and sent it on its way.

I was so incredibly sure of what I'd said to the man at the Ministry.

I wanted to save as many Werewolves as I could.

Remus would be the first.

Even though I knew he didn't need saving, I knew he needed a friend to be there with him. I would be there, even if it wasn't completely myself.


	11. Hold My Hand

Everyone seemed quite surprised when I walked into the Slug Club Christmas party on the arm of the best Ravenclaw Quidditch Chaser.

"Ah, Ms Black!" Professor Slughorn greeted. "With Cooper Knight? I have to say that this is an unexpected pairing."

"I figured I'd bring a friend. I hope that's all right, Professor," I said, forcing a smile and doing my best not to grit my teeth at the word 'friend'.

"Oh, of course. Now go on! Mingle. Have fun!"

"Cassie!" Lily called. I dragged Cooper to where Lily, Remus, Mary, and Severus were standing, "Is that Cooper Knight?" she asked in a whisper.

"Sadly," I scoffed.

"I can hear you," Cooper grumbled.

"I'm aware."

"You are very ungrateful," he said, glaring at me.

"You forced me to bring you!" I retorted.

"I'm doing you a favor," he said.

"You're ridiculous."

"And you're a daft- Ow! That was uncalled for!"

I removed the heel of my combat boot from his foot and crossed my arms, "Tosser."

"Cow."

"Knobhead."

"Ninny."

"You two obviously have a great relationship," Severus murmured.

"How could you tell?"

Cooper signed and turned towards Lily.

"Evans, right?"

She blushed.

"Uh.. yes? I mean- yes. Yes, Lily Evans. That's me," she stuttered.

He cast her a charming Cooper Knight smile and held out an arm.

"Would you like to dance?"

I smacked him over the back of the head.

"You're three years older than her!" I scolded.

"Your parents are cousins," he retorted.

"I don't want you tampering my friends."

"Cassie," Lily hissed, elbowing me in the side. Her face switched from annoyance to admiration as she looked from me to Cooper. "I'd love to dance with you, Cooper."

He winked at me as he took Lily's hand and lead her to the dance floor. When the two had walked away, Snape turned towards Mary.

"Would you like to dance with me, Mary?"

Mary looked mortified.

"Remus, you wanna dance?" she asked, staring at him with a pleading look in her eyes.

"I'm not the dancing type myself, thanks," said Remus, sitting down in the closest chair.

Mary shot Remus a glare and followed Snape to the dance floor.

I sat in the seat next to Remus and laid my head on the table.

"You look nice tonight, Remus," I muttered into the table cloth. "I like your sweater."

He was wearing a button down and an oversized cardigan. While it wasn't the most formal thing anyone at the party was wearing, it was the most him.

"Oh… thanks. My mom likes to knit."

"You go home and see her sometimes don't you? Because she's sick?" I asked, rolling my head over enough to see him.

"Well… I kind of just say that. So the others don't question where I am on Full Moons," he said awkwardly.

"But you've been to see her twice already this year," I stated. "Not around the full moon."

"How do you know that?"

"I'm observant."

"I don't really talk about it much…" he trailed, looking embarrassed.

"Well, you've already told me your deepest, darkest, furriest secret, so what's the worst that can happen?" I asked.

Remus smiled a little at this.

"I suppose you're right," he agreed. "She's… got some Muggle illness that she doesn't want treated with magic. My dad even says that it's a bad idea, since she has no magical blood in her," he explained.

"I'm really sorry to hear that, Remus," I said earnestly.

He just shrugged and smiled.

"She's tough… I mean, she has to raise a were-"

"Hi Cooper!" I said loudly over Remus' voice. "Having fun tampering with my friend?"

Cooper just glared at me and took off his jacket.

"We're having a blast, Cass, thanks for asking."

"I can't believe I let you come with me."

"I'm so glad you did," he said, bending down to get close to my face. "Because when I'm done with Evans, you'll see exactly how I've felt for the past year.

I huffed and bent down to remove my shoes.

"Are you going to stab me with your shoes?"

"I was actually just taking them off because I don't enjoy wearing heels, but you're just putting ideas into my head."

He groaned and ran his hand through his hair.

"How did Emily put up with you for so long?"

"Don't bring her into this again or I might actually stab you with my shoe."

Cooper grit his teeth.

"Are you actually that dense?"

"So dense that I don't like speaking about your dead sister? Yeah, I apologize that I've got a heart. Sometimes I forget that you were born without one," I retorted.

"You don't have the right be upset when someone brings her up!"

I could feel the unwanted tears stinging my eyes, "I watched her die, you arse!"

"How about we go dance before someone ends up with a broken nose? Cassie already has a black eye from the Quidditch game, let's not add onto the injuries," Lily interjected.

I crossed my arms, "I refuse to touch _that_."

"Oh, I'm a _that_ now?" Cooper growled.

Remus grabbed my arm and Lily grabbed Severus's, "Goodnight Cooper! Wonderful meeting you!" Lily waved the boy off.

"I have a feeling you expected that to go better," Remus whispered to me as we danced next to Lily and Severus.

I shrugged, "We haven't gotten into a fight like that since Emily's funeral."

"Emily would be the friend you've told me about?"

I nodded, "He doesn't get what happened to her."

"He obviously doesn't understand how hard you took her death. I didn't even know her, but I can see that she meant a lot to you."

I pushed my face into the crook of his neck.

"Don't look at me while I cry," I warned him.

"I do what I want."

I pulled back and arm and waved it in warning.

"Don't test me."

"You'd punch me?"

A small whimper slipped out of my throat.

"No," I croaked.

"Cassie," he cooed, hugging me while keeping the facade that we were dancing. "You're crying on my cardigan."

I pulled away and rubbed my eyes, staring at the floor so he couldn't see the tears streaming down my face.

"I'm sorry."

"No!" he said, hugging me again. "I was kidding. You can cry on my cardigan as much as you want. You can have it if you want!"

"But your mom made it for you," I cried.

"She knits a lot. I've got a million sweaters."

I pulled away from him again.

"I really don't want to be here. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Want me to walk you back to the common room?"

I shook my head.

"I kind of just want to be alone."

"Wait," he said. He pulled the cardigan off of him and wrapped it around my shoulders. "The corridors get colder at night."

Back in the Gryffindor common room, Sirius and Peter were the only ones not at dinner. They were sitting on opposing chairs, Sirius asleep and Peter gnawing on the bone of a chicken leg.

"Hi Cassie," muttered Peter through a mouth full of bone.

"Hi Peter," I said quietly.

I pulled Remus' cardigan around me tighter and towed off my shoes. I carefully crawled on top of Sirius, resting my head on his chest just like when we were both in trouble at home and our parents had locked us in one of the closets.

He wrapped his arms around me and ran his fingers up and down my back. He looked at me and started wiping all the tears off my face.

"Did something happen at the party? If Knight did something to you, I'll skin him alive."

I hid my face in my brother's shoulder.

"Emily's dead, Sirius. I watched her die."

"Cassie," he whispered, holding me closer.

"My best friend's dead, and I think it's all my fault."

"You're just a kid-"

"I should have done something," I cried. "I should have tried to help her, but I was so scared."

He rocked me in his arms.

"Oh yeah, I'll tell you something I think you'll understand," he whispered. "When I'll say that something, I want to hold your hand."

I choked out a small laugh as he started to sing to me. His voice was severely pitchy, and the melody wasn't what the Beatles had intended, but it was the thought that counted.

"Oh please, say to me you'll let me be your man," I sang back.

"And please say to me, you'll let me hold your hand. And when I touch you, I feel happy inside. It's such a feeling that my love. I can't hide, I can't hide, I can't hide. Yeah, you got that something. I think you'll understand when I'll say that something. I want to hold your hand."

His pitchy and irregular voice may not have sounded like Paul McCartney, but it was comforting nonetheless.

"And when I touch you, I feel happy inside. It's such a feeling that my love. I can't hide, I can't hide, I can't hide. Yeah, you got that something. I think you'll understand when I'll say that something. I want to hold your hand."

It's so strange how he had the ability to make my world normal when it started to deflate. He wasn't there for so long. I had no one for so long. He was my person though. The thing that stayed. My constant in life.

"Thank you, Sirius," I muttered. "I love you more than potato soup."


	12. A Werewolf Snitch

It was around midnight when the group of Slug Club kids started emerging in the common room.

I'd been in and out of sleep since Sirius had convinced me to go to my dorm and relax for a while. The Slug Club woke me up when they entered talking wildly about something interesting that must have happened, a special guest of some sort.

The scent of chocolate and cinnamon surrounded me and I frowned, realizing I'd have to give Remus his sweater back. Reluctantly I pulled Remus' cardigan from around me and slowly wandered down the stairs from the girl's dormitories.

"Why'd she even invite Cooper?" said Mary in anger around the corner of the staircase.

Suddenly I didn't think that they weren't as happy as I thought they were.

"I don't think it was her choice," said Remus. "He kinda… has a grudge against her."

"Why?" asked Lily.

"Don't you know about his sister?" said Mary. "She took off 'cause of Cassie. Family said they haven't seen her in a year, think it's because Cassie threatened her or something."

I pressed my hand against my mouth and my body against the wall, forcing myself not to be seen or heard.

"That's not true," Remus told them. "Emily Knight was Cassie's best friend. Died from a… werewolf bite."

The two girls gasped.

"Are you sure?" asked Mary.

"She told me herself," he assured them. "She blames herself because she couldn't stop it and from the way Cooper acts, I think he feels the same."

"No way!" said Lily, shocked. "That's awful. I feel so bad for her. That's probably why she's so… I don't know, tough? Trying to keep everyone around her safe all the time."

"Don't tell her I told you that," Remus said suddenly. "I don't think she wants anyone to know about that… especially the Knights."

"Don't worry," I choked out through a sob. "I already heard."

The three all stood out of their spots and looked towards me as I stepped out of the darkness and threw Remus' cardigan at him.

"Cassie," he whispered. "I-"

"How could you?" I yelled. "How could you tell anybody about that? You promise me you wouldn't."

"I wasn't thinking until after I said it, Cassie. I'm sorry."

"You weren't thinking?"

"I was trying to stop the rumors," he tried to assure me, stepping closer to try and lower the tension. "I'd hate for people to think things like that about you."

"I started that rumor!" I said, pushing him away from me. "I wanted people to think she was still alive."

"I think we're just gonna go upstairs now…" said Lily.

"Yup, let's go," Mary agreed, dragging Lily up the stairs.

"I cannot believe you," I spat. "I trusted you! And I don't trust anyone, Remus."

"I'm so sorry, Cassie," he said. "I feel awful."

"So do I," I stated. "What would you do if people are saying something that wasn't true about why you leave every month and I corrected them?"

"I'd be devastated," he sighed. "Lose all the people in my life."

"The thing is, I've already lost almost everyone in my life. If the Knights find out about what happened to Emily, I wouldn't just be devastated. They'd kill me."

Remus snorted.

"You don't think being killed is something I worry about every month? That if someone goes to check out the shack and they find a werewolf in there that they wouldn't try to kill me? There's werewolf hunters, Cassie. People who are out there to kill people like me."

"Which is why I'm not daft enough to tell anyone about you!" I yelled.

"I made a mistake!"

"Opening your mouth and telling someone something you promised to never speak of to another human being is a conscious choice, Remus!"

"I made a mistake!" he said, running his hands through his hair. "I don't know what you want me to do."

"Leave me alone! I want you to forget you ever learned a thing about me and I'll do the same for you," I spat, feeling my bottom lip start to tremble.

"You don't mean that, Cassie," he said softly, reaching out to touch my arm.

I jerked away from him.

"Say what you mean and mean what you say, Wolfboy,"

"Cassie," he whispered, his attention suddenly drawn towards the stairs leading up to the boys dorms. "I think there's someone up there."

Both of us drew still, listening for movement.

"Sirius! He's a werewolf!" whispered someone from the top of the stairs.

"Shut up, James!"

Remus and I looked at each other, frozen in sudden anxiety. His face paled.

"Sirius?" I called. "James?"

"I'm here too!" called Peter back to me.

"Peter!" James scolded. "You weren't supposed to answer her."

I marched up to the steps leading to the boy's dormitories and pulled each of them into the common room one at a time.

"Eavesdropping?" I asked. "You're serious?"

"Yeah, I am," said Sirius, a smirk on his face.

I slapped him over the back of the head.

"You're not going anywhere, Lupin," I said, grabbing Remus' arm before he could run. "Looks like you don't have to worry about me spilling your secret in revenge anymore."

Remus looked at me, ashamed and afraid. Part of me wanted to feel bad for him, but I at least knew my brother to be better than to leave his best friend because of something so trivial.

He must have seen the unremorseful look in my eyes, because he couldn't look at me anymore, opting instead to look at the floor and fidget with the cuffs of his sleaves.

"Listen, I understand if you don't want to be friends with me anymore…" he stuttered. "Just please don't tell anyone else. I'm-"

"Lupin!" said James excitedly, suddenly lowering his voice so no one else could hear him besides the people around him. "You're a werewolf! That's totally awesome!"

Sirius nodded in agreement, slapping Remus on the shoulder.

"I dare say you're almost as cool as me," he said, smirking at him. "You're still a nerd though, so still not quite as cool as me."

I rolled my eyes at him.

"So you don't care?" Remus asked, finally able to look them in the eyes.

"Nah, man!" said James. "We always thought there was something up with you. You're always disappearing with these crazy reason for why you're not around. Always getting all cut up and stuff, carrying around that blue potion that Slughorn makes for you."

"I didn't think you'd notice that kind of stuff."

"Cause you think we're reckless and unobservant?" asked Peter.

"Well… yeah."

"He's not wrong," I told them.

"Shut up, Lady," said James.

"Don't call me Lady!" I said, pushing past him.

"Call you what you are, Lady," he said, smirking as I walked towards the girl's dorms.

"I'm going to bed."

"Night, Cassie," chorased the boys.

"Night, all."

Something about the way I said it made it obvious to the boys and I that Remus wasn't included.

The day we were packing to leave for winter break was filled with tension between Remus and I. We spent the day actively avoiding each other, not speaking unless to say excuse me or thanks for not letting James hit me in the head with a quaffle.

The tension between Lily, Mary, and I was equally as high. Though they weren't avoiding me, I was avoiding them. I didn't want to deal with the awkward conversation as they tried to pretend like they didn't know anything. I didn't want them to apologize or be weird about what they'd learned. I didn't want them to question me.

Sirius, James, and Peter didn't seem to notice any form of tension. They were being just as annoying as any other day, not seeming to think much of what they'd learned about Remus the night before.

The train ride was chaotic but no more chaotic than any other day. Lucius tried to push me onto the train tracks while Regulus stood by and watched and Sirius and James tormented Severus because Lily had agreed to sit with him on the way back to Kings Cross.

Although I wasn't speaking to Remus, I was still wrapped up in the plan to try and help him.

I kept my focus on the book that I was studying to help my transformation into an Animagus as the boys talked the whole ride. They'd occasionally slip into conversation about Remus' condition, asking about how it happened and what it was like and things like that.

Although Remus was uncomfortable, it was obvious that he was happy to have his friends there.

As we pulled into the station, I pulled a long black cloak over my muggle jeans and Beatles shirt and moved to leave the compartment.

"Where you going?" Sirius asked me, gathering his things.

"Home?"

"Mum and Dad apparate us home, though."

"Not if they can't find me."

"Bad idea, Cassie," he said, grabbing my wrist before I could leave.

"Oh well."

Sirius grabbed his bag and threw it over his shoulder, waving to his friends before following me out of the compartment, grabbing at my cloak and arms, trying to force me to stay with him.

"Where the hell are you going to go?" he asked, finally managing to get a grasp on the sleeve of my shirt. "You're not going to go straight home, we both know that."

"Why's it matter?" I spat, glaring at the people who were peering out of their compartments at us.

"Because I know what they'll do to you if you take off again."

"Bold of you to assume that she doesn't know what they'll do," Cooper Knight interjected, walking past us. "You missed a lot while you were out last summer, Black. Lots of adventures and punishments to go along with them. I have to say, it shocks me that your parents resort to Muggle punishment. Belts and branches."

Sirius raised an eyebrow at me.

"Let me see your back."

I snorted a laugh and pushed him off of me.

"Bite me."

As the train doors opened, I slipped out of one, Sirius on my heels.

"What the hell did you do last year, Cassie?"

I turned around and pushed him back.

"Why do you care?" I asked calmly.

"What do you mean?"

He was starting to get angry. His naturally tan skin turning a dark shade of red and his face twitching in agitation.

"You're my little sister, Cassie! I'm trying to protect you."

"You didn't try and protect me while you were at school last year. Or while you spent half of last summer with your friends. How's knowing about what you failed to do then going to help you now?"

"I didn't even think you liked me until this year!"

"I don't like anyone!"

"How was I supposed to know what when all you did was actively avoid me?"

"How can I actively avoid someone who's not around?"

"Well I'm here now, Cassie."

"Can you two shut the hell up and come on?" Regulus said, pushing us towards where our parents were standing.

Little shock came to me while they praised Regulus for his house placement and uttered nothing but insults in my general direction.

A man who looked shockingly like James waved towards Sirius, but he looked down, afraid of Mother and Father seeing them. Peter smiled brightly in my direction as he followed two very happy, and very pudgey looking people out of the train station.

Just past Peter was an older couple. Their clothes obviously well worn and mended ever so many times. Remus walked with his arm around the older woman. She was sickly and pale, walking slowly, relying on her son to keep her standing. She was smiling though, happy to be with Remus.

I looked at Sirius, who was staring at the ground, not paying attention to anything happening around him. His face was sad.

I took his hand and wrapped my other arm around his bicep. He looked at me, shocked, but didn't pull away.

"Thank you," I whispered. "For taking care of me."

He ruffled my hair and smiled a little.

"Anything for you, kiddo… Well, almost anything."


	13. The Christmas Stick

Time seems to slip away when surrounded by constant darkness and/or unconsciousness. Sirius had become convinced that we were on day seven, I didn't say anything to refute him. I hadn't been awake long enough to know what day it was anyway.

Moving was nearly impossible. My back was stiff with dried blood and broken flesh. Sirius was in a similar position to me, but he was fighting through any amount of pain he was in to make sure that I was alive.

"Drink this," he told me, holding up a glass of water to my mouth. I let the water fill my mouth and slide down my throat.

"How long have I been out?" I asked him.

"I wouldn't know," he told me, forcing a laugh.

"Did he hurt you?" I asked, reaching out to touch his arm.

"Not as much as he hurt you," Sirius assured me. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I've got knives in my back."

"I'm so sorry, Cassie."

"Don't be sorry, I'm okay."

The door of the closet clicked opened and our father's shadow shielded us from the light outside.

"What did I tell you about talking?" he sneered, pulling his belt from his pants. "Oh, dear Sirius, how disappointed I am in you. Influencing your innocent baby sister to join the side of blood traitors and mudbloods. Didn't we raise you any better?"

"Don't hurt him!" I cried out as Father raised his belt. Sirius covered his face with one arm and my hand with his other. His cries became nothing but deep intakes of breathes as Father struck him over and over and over against.

"Orion!" called Mother from another room. "Train leaves in an hour."

"The train back to Hogwarts?" I asked. "We've been in here for twelve days?"

"You're lucky we're letting you out at all," he said, spit flying from his mouth. "Now, upstairs! Clean up, put on your clothes on, pack your things. And do make it nice and snappy, yeah? Wouldn't want you to miss the train."

I forced my body to ignore the pain long enough to get Sirius' bleeding body off the floor and upstairs.

"I'm fine," he told me, pulling away from me and leaning against the wall. "I'll meet you out here in a couple minutes, okay?"

I nodded nervously and pushed open the door to my bedroom. Inside I found that my window had been opened every snowy and rainy day in London since we'd gotten home. Not only had the elements soaked half of my room, but it'd invited owls inside without my permission.

There were letters and boxes scattered randomly around my room. To my surprise there were six packages waiting for me and over a dozen letters, mostly from James.

I opened my door to find Sirius about to do the same.

"James is wondering why you haven't answered him," I told him.

He held up a stack of letters thicker than mine.

"I'm aware. Although four of these are from Remus asking if you're okay."

I let him in and took his bag of clothes that he'd never gotten around to wearing as we were locked in a closet for the entirety of our Christmas break.

"I should really clean your back before we go. The blood will soak through your shift if I don't and then people will really have some questions."

I sat him at the end of my bed and started to clean and wrap the dozens of slashes, some newer than others, that covered his back. Sirius started to tear the wrapping paper off of the four gifts that were laid out in front of him.

"Look at the picture that Lily sent me," he said, holding up an image of him, James, Peter, and Remus standing in front of the beach tree that stood in front of the Black Lake. They were all laughing and teasing each other.

"That's cute."

"Don't say that!" he groaning. "We're cool, Cassie. I'm cool."

"My bad," I teased. "You're so cool."

"Peter got me a new Exploding Snaps deck," he said happily. "My last one… well, we used it a few too many times during classes."

"What'd James get you?" I asked, looking over his shoulder.

"A bottle of Sleekeazy's and some dungbombs."

"Lovely," I groaned. "Promise not to use those when I'm in your vicinity, okay?"

"Whatever you say, Cassie."

He dumped the last package out onto the bed to find dozens of different kinds of candies and chocolates. Definitely a gift from Remus.

"Wow, I've never even heard of some of these."

"You know how much Remus loves his sweets."

"How he stays so skinny is a mystery to all of us."

"Well… he's a werewolf, Siri," I whispered. "He's got the metabolism of a wolf."

"I'm still not quite used to the idea of him being a… well, a monster."

"Don't call him a monster, Sirius."

"Why do you care what I call him? You decided he's your friend anymore, didn't you?"

"Whatever Sirius," I said, moving to grab a fresh shirt out of my backpack.

"What'd you get?" he asked, shaking a package from Peter. I shrugged and sat next to him, opening the box from Lily first.

"Another picture. This one's of her and I during the first Slug Club dinner."

"James, Remus, and I are in the background," he said, pointing to where they were sitting on the couch in the Gryffindor common room holding up peace signs and sticking their tongues out. Peter could hardly be seen poking his head out from beside Remus. "There's Peter."

"Mary sent me something too," I said, smiling as I opened a bigger box. "This was my sister's dress when she was in school. It'd look super cute on you, I think. Maybe you can wear it to the next Slug Club dinner."

I pulled the dress from the box. It was a dusty rose color. Paler than the dress that I'd worn to the last dinner. It was covered in gold star detailing that made up different constellation groups.

"Look, there's me," said Sirius, pointing to the Sirius star on the dress. "And you."

I smiled, "It's a lovely dress. I'll have to thank her as soon as I see her next."

"This one's from the quidditch team," said Sirius, handing me heavy box.

"Broom cleaning kit, and a note. You're the best thing that could have happened to our team. We'll have the House Cup for sure this year!"

Sirius carefully wrapped an arm around my shoulders.

"You are pretty incredible, Cassie."

"I wouldn't be near as good as I am if you hadn't tried so hard to knock me off my broom when we were little. I learned a lot from that."

"What else are big brothers for?" he asked, grinning wildly. "Teaching you things while bullying you at the same time."

James' present was the next in my hand. It was no surprise that his gift also included a new supply of his father's hair potion. He did not supply me with a new set of dungbombs, though. Instead it was a family recipe of potato soup.

"His mum is the best book I've ever met," said Sirius. "You pull off that recipe and you'll be the happiest little potato eater that anyone's ever seen."

I smiled and tucked the recipe within the pile of letters next to me.

"Peter gave me a book of famous witches. Said that I'll be in a book like this one day."

"I think Peter may have the slightest crush on you, Cassie."

I groaned and set the book aside, looking at the last gift hesitantly. A long and poorly wrapped gift from Remus. As far as I could tell it was nothing more than a stick. Opening it proved no difference.

"A stick?" said Sirius, flabbergasted. "If he's trying to make you forgive him, I don't know how a stick with one puny little leaf is going to help that. Why are you smiling?"

"The leaf of a mandrake," I told him. "He's trying to help me."

'That makes no sense," said Sirius. "You two make no sense."

Even if Sirius didn't understand, I did. I'd never given Remus a chance to look at the process of becoming an animagus, meaning that he'd learned it on his own. Learned that one of the many steps required was to hold a mandrake leaf under your tongue for exactly a month. He'd done that for me.

"So I take it you forgive him," said Sirius incredulously.

"No!" I told him. Even I knew that wasn't completely true.

"Children!" called Mother from downstairs. "Five minutes!"

I shoved all of our gifts into my bag and handed Sirius a change of clothes. He sighed and pulled me into a loose hug.

"I'm sorry I got you locked in there with me. Got you hit with me."

"I got myself put in there so you wouldn't be alone, Siri," I told him. "I couldn't stand the thought of you being hurt and alone in there."

"You're unbelievable, Cassie."

"I'm just dumb enough to do anything for my dumbass brother."

He shook his head and grabbed his backpack.

"Let's go. We've got a train to catch."

"Where are you going?" I asked him.

"Out the window, obviously. Away from them," he said, pointing towards the door.

I shrugged, "Alright."

"You are truly just a follower, aren't you?" he teased.

"Watch it, Black," I said, forcing the window open and dropping onto the ledge outside.

"You've done this a lot, haven't you?" he asked, nervously following me onto the ledge.

"A couple times… a couple dozens."

"Dozens?" he yelled.

"Shut up or they'll hear us!" I warned, dropping onto the dumpsters below my window. "You sure you wanna do this? You can just climb back through the window."

"I'm out of here," he assured me, following me onto the street.

"Welcome to the dark side, Mr. Black," I said, grinning. "Pleasure to finally be on the same side of the coin."

"You're really weird, Cassie, you know that?" he asked, looking over his shoulder at the house. "And I really think we should start running now."

"Why?" I asked, turning to see Mother and Regulus looking out my bedroom window. "I see."

"You two get back here this instant!" called Father.

"See you at the end of term!" I called back.

"Maybe not!" Sirius added.

The trip to Kings Cross seemed to go by quickly. We were in constant fear that our parents would appreciate and appear out of the alleyways or from inside one of the shops that we were passing so everyone that we passed without being intercepted was just another one down the row.

When we found our way through Platform 9 ¾, the train was there and people already starting to board. It was crowded for the end of a holiday, but it made us breathe a little easier knowing that they couldn't hurt us with so many people around to witness it.

"Yo Blacks!" said someone from across the station. James and Peter appeared with the parents from the crowd. James crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow at us. "Couldn't bother to write?"

"Busy," I blurted out.

"Incredibly," Sirius added.

"Didn't even notice that you'd written until right before we left," I told him.

"Where are your parents, Sirius?" asked a man that looked identical to James.

"We got separated in the crowd," he lied.

"Lily! Mary!" I said, waving them down. The two girls waved back, smiling as if nothing had happened before break. "Thank you guys for the gifts. The dress is beautiful, Mary."

"I was hoping you'd like it," she said. "I was hoping we could use it as an amends. We're sorry about your friend, Cassie, honest."

Lily nodded in agreement.

"But that doesn't change how we view you at all. You're our friend."

I smiled, "Thank you. That means a lot."

Lily waved to someone behind me and Mary rolled her eyes and mouthed 'Snape' to me before walking away with Lily.

I turned around to rejoin Sirius and found myself face to face with Remus.

"Oh," I gasped.

"Hi," he said awkwardly. "How was your holiday? Did you… uh, get my gift?"

I opened my mouth and lifted my tongue.

"The process has officially started thanks to you."

Relief passed over his face.

"You're not completely forgive, Lupin, don't get the wrong idea," I warned. "But, I'm not actively avoid you anymore. And just so you know, forgiveness comes in the shape of chocolate and potato soup."

"You got it!"


End file.
